ALBANY — The New York Senate last night overwhelmingly passed a sweeping new gun bill that could make the state the first in the nation to adopt stricter regulations in the wake of last month’s elementary-school massacre in Connecticut.
The bill passed 43-18, with the naysayers all upstate Republicans.
The Assembly is expected to take up the legislation when it returns at 10 this morning.
The measures in the bill were negotiated by Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders, and ban the sale of assault weapons in New York and broaden the definition of an assault weapons.
Cuomo called the plan possibly “the most comprehensive response to this crisis,” referring to several recent shooting sprees.
“These are common-sense measures,” he said.
Senate co-leader Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) said after the vote, “Today we solidify our place as a national leader on gun control.”
The legislation, called the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or NYSAFE, now defines an assault weapon as any having detachable magazines and one military-style feature, instead of two.
It also includes a ban on all magazines that hold more than seven rounds, and bans direct Internet ammunition sales.
The bill calls for universal background checks for all gun sales, as well as real-time background checks of ammunition purchases in order to alert State Police to high-volume buyers.
Individuals who already own assault weapons will be required to register them within a year and be recertified every five years.
There is also a “Webster provision,” which calls for a life-without-parole sentence for killers of first responders. The measure was inspired by the Christmas Eve shooting in upstate Webster that killed two firefighters responding to a blaze.
If the bill passes, mental-health professionals would be required to report potentially dangerous patients — who could then have their guns yanked — and mentally ill inmates would have to undergo review before being released from prison. Mandatory treatment for potentially dangerous mentally ill individuals would be broadened to a year, up from the current six months.
Also under the bill, the state would develop an electronic gun- permit database to identify individuals disqualified from owning guns. Private gun transfers would require background checks, except for immediate family.
Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn) said the bill also strengthens penalties for guns used in gang activities and allows prosecution of each gang member who uses a so-called “community gun.”
“This legislation that we’re passing will save lives,” he said.
Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos of Long Island voted for the bill, even though many of his GOP colleagues didn’t.
Republican Sen. Greg Ball of Putnam blasted the gun bill, saying the only life it would save “is the political life of a governor who wants to be president.”
The legislation included provisions pushed for by Republicans, including making it a felony to possess a firearm on school grounds or a school bus and allowing pistol-permit holders to request their personal information not be made public.
Politicians from both sides of the aisle noted that Cuomo, who was planning to waive a three-day aging period for bills and allow lawmakers to vote on the gun legislation immediately, would beat the White House with the nation’s first gun-control package.