Raise age to buy AR-15

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday called on state lawmakers to put forth legislation that would raise the age from 18 to 21 for someone to legally purchase an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon in New York, a reaction to the mass shootings at a Texas school this week and a Buffalo grocery store earlier this month.

“How does an 18-year-old purchase an AR-15 in the state of New York?” Hochul said from the New York State Intelligence Center in Rensselaer County where she attended a meeting on the interstate flow of illegal guns. “That person is not old (enough) to buy a legal drink. I want to work with the Legislature to change that.”

She noted that both gunmen in the recent deadly shootings were 18-year-old men with AR-15 style weapons.

“I don’t want 18-year-olds to have guns, at least not in the state of New York,” Hochul said.

Lawmakers are debating whether to include the age restriction for all semiautomatic weapons or limit it to an AR-15. Certain progressive Democrats are seeking to raise the age to purchase a firearm for all guns while others want to see semiautomatic weapons banned altogether.

Republicans generally avoided putting out any direct statements on Hochul’s announcement. Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt said on Twitter that public safety is on the “top of our minds” and the conference would “continue to fight for common sense policies.” He said continuing support for law enforcement and corrections officers is critical as the GOP seeks to further rework the state’s cash bail laws, reform the parole system and pass a “victims’ justice agenda.”

The policy decision on raising the age to purchase an AR-15, which would likely face legal challenges, is one piece of what Democratic lawmakers have discussed behind closed doors on potential changes they could make to the state’s gun laws in response to the Buffalo shooting that left 10 Black people dead in an attack being investigated as a racist hate crime.

“This is something we have been discussing and we have always been supportive of this idea and would certainly be in favor of moving forward,” said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the state Senate Majority Leader’s office.

The Assembly Majority is in active discussions related to a variety of gun policy proposals, including an increase in age to purchase an AR-15 firearm, according to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office.

Unlike the Senate Democrats, the Assembly Democrats did not immediately agree to the proposal that was first publicly announced by Hochul during the news conference in East Greenbush Wednesday morning.

Hochul left open the door to raise the age to 21 to purchase additional firearms beyond just AR-15 or semiautomatic weapons. She described it as a “minimum” to what she would like the Legislature to do in the final four days of the scheduled session that ends June 2.

“We will do more and I will not sleep at night until I know that everything has been done humanly possible to protect New Yorkers and to help them heal,” Hochul said.

The governor acknowledged there will be legal obstacles to her goal of raising the minimum age for firearm purchases. A federal court in March said California’s ban on people under 21 buying semiautomatic weapons was unconstitutional.

US 9th Circuit Court Appeals Judge Ryan D. Nelson, to appointee of then-President Donald J. Trump, ruled to reaffirm the “right of young adults to keep and bear arms,” ​​stating that “America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army.”

“I’m not going to let my fear of losing a court case to stop me from what I think is correct for New Yorkers and will protect them,” Hochul said. “You may get a judge who actually cares and has common sense and would understand that these are not punitive measures.”

She asserted there is a balance between the Second Amendment and the right for the government to protect the public.

“Don’t tie our hands,” Hochul said. “And I’ll make that argument in court any day of the week.”

Hochul acknowledged that gun violence in New York, similar to elsewhere in the country, is not limited to semiautomatic weapons in mass shootings. She said the state needs to continue to remove “ghost guns” from the streets, the often-illicit and untraceable firearms that come from out of state and are often attributed by law enforcement to violent crimes in New York.

Neither the National Rifle Association nor its state affiliate, the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

In an April bulletin from the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, titled “Clearing up the confusion about the AR-15,” it characterized the firearm as a “modern sporting rifle” that is one of the “most popular firearms sold today. “

“However, once again, the left is railing about the AR-15 rifle and I must again point out their lies,” states the article written by Jim Collins, a board member.

He noted the firearms “may look like military rifles, but by law, they function like other semi-automatic civilian sporting firearms.” Collins said the gun, which is often mistaken for a machine gun but fires one round each time the trigger is engaged, follows the pattern in the nation’s history to have civil sporting rifles. He said they are versatile guns for target shooters and hunters in all weather.

“And last, but not least, it is a fun gun to shoot,” Collins wrote.” So, please do not be misled by the folks who would take our freedom from us.”

In the month since the publication of the latest New York State Rifle and Pistol Association bulletin, which endorses Republican US Rep. Lee Zeldin for governor on his Second Amendment stance and platform to repeal the state’s SAFE Act, there have been two high-profile masses shootings — incidents that always ignite the right-to-bear-arms debate. The firearm used by the gunman in the Buffalo shooting was legally purchased in New York, but illegally modified with out-of-state purchases.

State Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement late Wednesday celebrating a federal judge’s decision rebuking a legal challenge from gun manufacturers and sellers that had unsuccessfully argued that a state law passed last year could not make distributors of firearms liable for gun violence.

“As public officials, we were elected to solve problems and address the needs of the people,” James, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Prayers alone will no longer do, and cowardliness is not part of the job description. New York will always lead, and I urge others with a backbone to follow.”