New York's Strict Gun-Control Laws May Soon Be Lifted By The Federal Government

WASHINGTON, DC — Strict gun-control laws enacted by New York state politicians in 2013, after more than two dozen school kids and staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary were shot dead by a crazed gunman, may soon be lifted by the federal government.

That is, if one gun-loving Republican congressman has his way.

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U.S. Rep. Chris Collins (pictured above), who represents parts of Erie County in upstate New York, unveiled new federal legislation Monday called the "Second Amendment Guarantee Act," or H.R. 3576. If passed into law, the new bill would prevent all state, county and city governments from passing local rifle and shotgun regulations stricter than those at the federal level. (Handgun regulations, for some reason, are not mentioned in the bill.)

"This is one of the more dramatic and extreme bills out there," Lindsay Nichols, federal policy director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a phone interview Monday.

"It would really impact almost every state in the nation," she said.

In New York in particular, this would mean the four-year-old New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act — better known as the SAFE Act — would be effectively overturned.

The SAFE Act banned the sale or purchase of various types of assault weapons still currently legal under federal law. It also outlawed gun magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds, and prohibited gun owners from filling their magazines with more than seven bullets, among other restrictions.

In a biting response to Collins' new proposal, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that it would put "millions of people at profound risk."

Cuomo added: "This disturbing bill puts New Yorkers in harm's way — and to make it worse, there is no basis for it. None. The courts have resoundingly upheld New York's law as consistent with the Constitution. We understand that Washington is in turmoil right now — we just ask that they don't do anything to set back the progress we've been able to make despite them."

The governor also accused Collins of being "beholden to no one but the gun lobby and entrenched special interests," and called the congressman's new legislation "a blatant political ploy."

Collins, meanwhile, told the Buffalo News: “This legislation would protect the Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers that were unjustly taken away by Andrew Cuomo. I am a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and have fought against all efforts to condemn these rights. I stand with the law-abiding citizens of this state that have been outraged by the SAFE Act and voice my commitment to roll back these regulations.”

Here's the full text of his bill. It reads, in part:

"A State or a political subdivision of a State may not impose any regulation, prohibition, or registration or licensing requirement with respect to the design, manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, possession, or marking of a rifle or shotgun that has moved in, or any such conduct that affects, interstate or foreign commerce, that is more restrictive, or impose any penalty, tax, fee, or charge with respect to such a rifle or shotgun or such conduct, in an amount greater, than is provided under Federal law."

Very few changes have been made to federal gun law in recent years, explained Nichols from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Instead, she said, it's become "an area that’s traditionally within the state authority."

Nichols said more than 200 new laws have been enacted at the state level "to cover a range of loopholes in federal law" — efforts which would be "significantly undermined" by the new Republican legislation.

Patch has reached out to representatives for both Collins and Cuomo for more details on the potential effects of the new bill in New York. We'll update this post with anything else we find out.

This story has been updated. Photo courtesy of Rep. Collins