Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com

Expanding NY gun laws

New York lawmakers Tuesday are set to pass some of the most sweeping changes to gun laws since the approval of the SAFE Act six years ago, a watershed moment in the debate over gun rights in the state.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly and Senate plan to vote on a package of at least eight bills aimed at tightening controls to reduce gun violence and help prevent mass shootings.

The bills include measures to increase the waiting period for background checks on gun purchases, ban devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire faster, prevent teachers from carrying guns in school, and keep guns from those that judges consider a risk to themselves or others.

What do the changes mean and how will the laws be enforced? Here’s a quick glimpse of the history of the legislation and how it works:

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Hans Pennink | AP file photo

Why now?

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised to pass new gun laws last year after a series of mass shootings across the nation, including one where 17 people were shot to death in February 2018 at a school in Parkland, Fla.

Cuomo said it’s important for state lawmakers to act where Congress has failed to pass meaningful reforms aimed at reducing gun violence.

The governor’s plan likely would have been pared back if Republicans maintained control of the New York Senate in the November election. But Democrats won majority control of the Assembly and Senate for only the second time in about 40 years, ushering in a new era of single-party rule in Albany.

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Jeff Mapes

Stronger background checks

The new law would expand the waiting period on background checks for gun buyers from three days to up to 30 days in cases where the purchase is not immediately approved through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

Under existing federal law, gun dealers must conduct the NICS background check on a potential purchaser prior to selling a firearm. Dealers must wait three days to complete the sale if it’s not immediately approved.

Democratic lawmakers and Cuomo say a waiting period of up to 30 days will give federal law enforcement authorities the time they need to complete the background check.

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Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com

Keeping guns from those at 'extreme risk'

A "red flag" bill first proposed by Cuomo last year will set up a process where courts can issue orders to temporarily seize firearms from people considered at risk of harming themselves or others.

The governor says the law empowers teachers and school administrators to help prevent school shootings like the one in Parkland, Fla., where the confessed shooter had shown multiple warning signs.

The new law would allow family members, schools, police and prosecutors to seek a court order blocking those deemed an “extreme risk” to others or themselves from buy or possessing a firearm for up to one year. Courts could also renew the order.

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Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com

Banning armed teachers in schools

Under existing law, New York schools can allow anyone with written permission to carry a firearm onto school grounds.

A bill authored by Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Long Island, would prohibit teachers and most school personnel from carrying a gun on school property. Only security officers, school resource officers or law enforcement officers would be permitted to carry firearms on school grounds, according to the bill.

The National Rifle Association advocated for arming school teachers with firearms after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The New York Rifle and Pistol Association says teachers should be able to carry guns in schools, but only if the teachers are trained.

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Allen Breed | AP

Banning bump stocks

The legislation bans devices known as “bump stocks” that can be placed on semi-automatic weapons to increase firing speeds. The devices were used in the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

New York’s existing law under New York’s Safe Act already prohibited firearm owners from attaching a bump stock. The new law would also ban the sale or possession of bump stocks.

President Donald Trump's administration imposed a ban on bump stocks in December. The federal law gave firearm owners until late March to turn in or destroy the devices.

Shooting instructor Frankie McRae, above, aims an AR-15 rifle fitted with a "bump stock" at his 37 PSR Gun Club in Bunnlevel, N.C., on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017.

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Prohibiting 3D-printed guns

Under the new law, New Yorkers would be prohibited from possessing, manufacturing, selling or distributing guns manufactured by a 3D printer. The guns are usually made of a type of hard plastic found in toys such as Legos.

Such firearms cannot be detected by standard metal detectors. The law also seeks to limit the availability of instructions online that explain how to make 3D firearms.

Federal law already requires all guns to be detectable by metal screening machines.

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Samantha House | syracuse.com

Research into gun violence

The package of bills includes a provision to establish a Firearm Violence Research Institute within the State University of New York system.

The institute will study gun violence and recommend other potential laws regulating guns.

A bill passed by Congress last year gave the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the authority to study the causes of gun violence. Republicans in Congress had refused to fund the CDC research for almost 20 years.

Syracuse police, above, investigate a mass shooting at 1315-17 Midland Ave. in September 2018 where five people were wounded.

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Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com

Safe gun storage

A new law on the safe storage of guns would impose criminal penalties on those who fail to securely store a firearm in a household that includes anyone under the age of 16.

Guns will have to be stored unloaded in a gun safe or similar “safe storage depository” and include the use of a gun-locking device.

Violators would face potential felony charges punishable by up to four years in prison, according to the bill.

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S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media

Gun buybacks

In a push to take more guns off the streets, some New York lawmakers want to require New York State Police to develop local gun buyback programs and set up a fund for rewards.

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Hans Pennink | AP file photo

More about NY gun laws

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New York set to pass new gun control measures

Cuomo pushes stricter gun laws

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