AMY PAULIN IN THE NEWS
Thursday, April 30, 2009
N.Y. Democrats Expect Gun-Control Measures to Pass
By Cara Matthews [The Journal News]
Democratic lawmakers said yesterday that they are confident they have enough support to pass a bill to require that semiautomatic guns come equipped with technology that etches a serial number on each bullet starting in 2011.
The legislation passed the Assembly on Tuesday. Senate Codes Committee Chairman Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, said he believes the bill will pass in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 32-30 majority over Republicans.
"There's a little communal public education going on, but I think we should be able to pass this by the end of session," he said.
Schneiderman said he believes another of his bills, which would require relicensing of firearms every five years, has a good chance of passing. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, is the Assembly sponsor.
Groups that advocate for legal gun owners oppose both bills and were actively lobbying lawmakers yesterday in the Capitol. The Shooters' Committee on Political Education and the National Rifle Association's state chapter disputed the benefits and disrupted an announcement made by Senate Democrats.
Democrats announced they would allocate $4 million to cut down on illegal gun possession and gang violence in Rochester, Westchester County, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany and New York City. Each area will receive roughly $500,000.
Preventing gun violence, advocates said, has become a more urgent issue following a massacre early this month in which a man shot and killed 13 people in Binghamton and then took his own life.
Schneiderman is sponsoring several other gun-control bills that the Assembly passed this week. Of the 13 bills that chamber approved, seven also have Senate sponsors.
Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton, has talked with Schneiderman about his legislation, but Libous said he doesn't support it, saying relicensing of guns should be fair and equitable. Schneiderman said that being against the microstamping proposal is like opposing the use of fingerprints and DNA evidence.
California's microstamping law takes effect next year, he said.
Many gun crimes remain unsolved because the weapon is never recovered, said Assembly bill sponsor Michelle Schimel, D-Nassau County. With microstamping, it will no longer be necessary to recover the pistol.