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New York, NY -  Senator Michael Gianaris, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence were recently joined by law enforcement officials and labor advocacy groups as well as members of the State Legislature to announce the support of a growing coalition for a package of sensible gun legislation. As momentum builds, the coalition is pushing for these measures to be adopted. Their passage would make New York State the nation’s toughest on guns and would set an example for states across the country to establish stronger, more responsible gun measures.

Following a recent uptick in gun violence across the country as well as in New York, Senator Gianaris introduced a series of gun violence prevention bills based on criteria established by the Brady Campaign which ranks each state according to the strength of its gun laws. The package of legislation discussed today includes the Gianaris proposals as well as previously introduced legislation by Senators Jose Peralta, Daniel Squadron, Liz Krueger and Adriano Espaillat. These proposals would responsibly strengthen New York’s gun laws and increase protection from gun violence.

“Recent horrific acts of gun violence should lead us all to say enough is enough. It is long past time to improve our gun laws and make our streets safer,” Senator Gianaris said. “I am proud to stand with this growing coalition of supporters to push for enactment of these sensible gun laws and will continue to push for their passage so we can keep guns out of the wrong hands.”

Senator Gianaris announced the introduction of five bills last week, which would do the following:

• Limit the purchase of a firearm to one per month and limit a firearm dealer from selling a firearm to any individual who has purchased such a weapon within the previous 30 days;

• Establish a universal background check to close a loophole in firearm sales and require background checks for all gun sales, even transactions between private sellers and buyers;

• Require prospective purchasers to obtain a firearm safety certificate, which can only be acquired after the successful completion of a safety training course;

• Impose a 10 day waiting period on the sale of a firearm in order to give law enforcement officials enough time to perform a thorough background check of the prospective owner;

• Close several gaps in the regulation of firearms and sale of ammunition, including a 10 year record retention requirement for all sales, mandating dealer permits to sell firearms, rifles, shotguns and ammunition, sales of which must be reported within 24 hours to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

The other bills included in the gun violence prevention package would:

• Require semiautomatic pistols manufactured or delivered to any licensed dealer in NY to be capable of microstamping ammunition (Peralta);

• Require the creation and implementation of responsible commercial practices and comprehensive record keeping and reporting to prevent gun sales to criminals (Peralta);

• Require a national instant criminal and mental health background check to be conducted on each individual who purchases ammunition (Peralta);

• Add additional weapon models to the definition of an assault weapon and adds related definitions (Squadron);

• Enact the “children’s weapon accident prevention act” (Krueger);

• Require the safe storage of all guns, either in a safe or with a locking device (Espaillat).

Senator Jose Peralta said, “If there was ever a time and if there was ever an issue for Democrats and Republicans to do everything possible to find common ground, now is the time and gun violence is the issue. Sensible people - including most gun owners - recognize we have a very serious problem on our hands.  Both sides need to set aside politics and work together to bring an end to the gun violence and bloodshed on our streets.”