Albany

A group of Republican state lawmakers is pushing legislation they say strikes a balance between a desire across much of the state to repeal the SAFE Act gun control law and a desire to keep it in full effect in the New York City metropolis.

The bill would make a number of elements of the SAFE Act applicable only within only the five boroughs. Those elements include the five-year recertification requirement for pistol permits and restrictions on transferring firearms to family members as part of an estate. Also, the law's definition of an assault weapon would be replaced with the old statutory definition in the affected regions.

Sponsors of the legislation say they aren't opposed to all parts of the SAFE Act, including provisions related to gun ownership by those who have been convicted of a violent crime and increased penalties for those who murder a first responder — the so-called Webster provision.

Still, they maintain that elements that impede gun ownership needn't apply for law-abiding gun owners across most of the state. The sponsors say there is precedent for such regional lawmaking, including the different phase-in schedules for the minimum wage increase in New York City, its suburbs and upstate.

The bill has Republican Majority Conference support in the Senate but lacks key Assembly Democratic Majority backing. A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, tweeted in response to the bill a simple "No."

Without the support of Assembly Democrats and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who counts the SAFE Act among his major progressive achievements, the legislation is almost certain to fall flat.

But the lawmakers behind it say they want to start a longer-term "reasonable and rational" conversation about how to govern a diverse state.

"It is my belief that the difference between upstate and downstate New York will become more pronounced with time," said Assemblyman Marc Butler, a Herkimer County Republican who sponsors the regional repeal bill. " ... We do not propose this out of anger, and we do not want to point fingers at anyone. But rather than pretend the issue does not exist, let's acknowledge what we all know to be true and begin dealing with it with this bill."

Others said the SAFE Act was emblematic of upstate's ire at perception that the state's agenda being set by downstate.

"Many folks in rural parts of New York state and in suburban parts of New York state feel that this law — along with many other laws we pass here — (is) New York City, it's Albany telling the rest of the state how they have to live their lives," said Senate sponsor Rob Ortt, R-Niagara County.

mhamilton@timesunion.com • 518-454-5449 • @matt_hamilton10