After Buffalo and Texas shootings, Kathy Hochul pushes for ban on AR-15 sales for people under 21
Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling on New York state lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban the sale of AR-15-style rifles to people under age 21.
The 18-year-old white supremacist who allegedly killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket earlier this month legally bought a version of the popular semi-automatic rifle from a Broome County gun dealer.
Legally bought semi-automatic rifles were also deployed by a teen gunman Tuesday in a deadly mass shooting at a Texas school, where he killed at least 19 children in a fourth-grade class and two adults.
“How does an 18-year-old purchase an AR-15 in the State of New York, State of Texas? That person’s not old enough to buy a legal drink. I want to work with the legislature to change that. I want it to be 21. I think that’s just common sense,” Hochul said at a Wednesday press conference in Rensselaer County.
A spokeswoman for Hochul did not respond to a request for comment on whether the governor was pursuing an age-based ban on sales of all semi-automatic rifles or just those based on the AR-15.
The 2013 SAFE Act defines assault weapons as semi-automatic firearms that also have banned features like folding stocks, pistol grips or bayonet mounts.
Democratic lawmakers are currently discussing the gubernatorial proposal to limit sales of the AR-15 — named for the ArmaLite company that developed the weapon decades ago — for possible inclusion in a gun control package expected to pass next week.
“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,” Mike Murphy, a spokesman for state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, said in an email.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie did not respond to a request for comment.
Hochul told The Post on Wednesday she was undeterred in pursuing the idea despite a federal appeals court ruling in mid-May that struck down a similar California law as violating the Second Amendment.
”I’m not gonna let my fear of losing a court case stop me from what I think is correct for New Yorkers,” Hochul said.
The governor also announced Wednesday that State Police will conduct outreach to schools across the state to urge vigilance about possible threats through the end of the school year.
Nearly 4,000 guns have been seized by law enforcement across the state this year, according to the Hochul administration, with gun seizures by state police dramatically up since Hochul announced the formation of an interstate task force on illegal guns in January.
She added that she would call lawmakers back to Albany if the U.S. Supreme Court loosens restrictions on carrying concealed weapons in the Empire State by striking down a 1913 state law.
Some Democratic legislators say they are ready when Hochul is to go further in cracking down on guns beyond banning sales of certain guns to people of a certain age.
“I support banning all the goddamn assault rifles,” Assemblyman Kenny Burgos (D-Bronx) told the Post Wednesday.
The National Rifle Association, which has opposed gun control measures at the federal level, did not respond to a request for comment.
