Hochul unveils gun executive orders in wake of racist-fueled Buffalo massacre
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday declared domestic terrorism to be public enemy No. 1 while announcing moves to prevent future massacres like the racist-fueled rampage that left 10 innocent people in Buffalo dead last weekend.
“Domestic terrorism is the most significant threat we face as a state and as a nation so we’re fighting back with a statewide approach,” Hochul told reporters at a press conference in Manhattan.
A legislative package and executive orders that she unveiled aims to prevent future attacks by tightening state gun laws, increasing social media monitoring by law enforcement and directing state police to more aggressively seize guns from potential shooters under the state’s red flag Law.
“The public will never know the mass shooting we prevent, but I’ll know,” the governor added.
Authorities say Payton Gendron, the alleged white supremacist behind the massacre, had undergone a medical evaluation after making threatening comments at his former high school — but no action was taken to keep him from purchasing weapons or seize any firearms already in his possession.
State Police will file what is called an Extreme Risk Protection Order to seize weapons or prevent gun purchases by potential threats under the red flag law “whenever they have probable cause to believe that an individual is a threat to themselves or others,” Hochul’s office said.
Hochul is also targeting online extremism via executive order by having State Police dedicate a unit to monitoring social media for potential threats by extremists while the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services will create a new unit dedicated to combating domestic terrorism.
The governor is also directing state Attorney General Letitia James to investigate how Gendron leveraged social media to spread so-called “replacement theory,” which claims a cabal of Democrats is conspiring to replace white Americans with non-white immigrants.
“Time and time again, we have seen the real-world devastation that is borne of these dangerous and hateful platforms, and we are doing everything in our power to shine a spotlight on this alarming behavior and take action to ensure it never happens again,” James said in a press release.
Hochul — who just hours before the shooting suggested to The Post that her anti-crime legislative efforts were done for the year — is also pushing for state lawmakers to pass several pieces of legislation.
One bill would require that semi-automatic handguns made or sold in New York include features that would mark ammunition with a microstamp after it is fired, which would help law enforcement better investigate gun crimes.
Other legislation would require law enforcement to report within 24 hours any firearm they recover from a crime scene. Hochul is also pushing a new bill that would expand the definition of firearms to include additional types of guns.
That leaves little time to pass legislation before state lawmakers leave Albany for the year on June 2.
The Wednesday press conference follows criticism by Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island) who has argued that Hochul is not aggressive enough in acting against an ongoing rise in violent crime.
Hochul has criticized federal lawmakers for inaction on guns despite her own pro-NRA record as a member of Congress when she represented a Republican-leaning district in Western New York a decade ago.
“You’re asking a question from of me from a political opponent at an event where were talking about people who lost their lives due to white supremacist behavior and radicalization?! This is not the time to talk about that,” Hochul said Wednesday when asked to respond to Suozzi’s attacks.
