Madmallard
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo again called for gun control in the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting at a Texas church, saying the law he pushed in New York should be implemented around the country.
Law enforcement officials say Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 people and wounded almost as many others during at an attack on the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. President Donald Trump said Monday that the shooting was the result of a “mental health problem,” and resisted what has become a reflexive reprise by Democrats for gun control after mass shooting incidents.
Cuomo, a Democrat positioning himself for a possible 2020 presidential bid, tweeted about the shooting within hours. In 2013, after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Cuomo pushed forward a gun control bill — the SAFE Act — that, among other things, requires mental health professionals to report people “likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others” to a database that makes it more difficult to purchase firearms.
The SAFE Act passed with support from eleven Republicans in the state Senate.
“What do you say? It’s over and over and over and over and over. The federal Republicans offer their thoughts and prayers,” Cuomo told reporters on a Monday conference call. “Thank you, but we have rabbis and priests and ministers and clerics who offer thoughts and prayers. They’re there to do something, they’re there to take action.”
“Why do you let mentally ill people buy guns so they can go shoot people?” the governor continued. “This is political pandering to the NRA. We’ve shown you can take action, we’ve taken action in New York with the SAFE Act and we’ve made this state safer. We have banned purchases by mentally ill people, which is what the president says the problem is. Fine! Then do what we did in New York and ban purchases by mentally ill people.”
As of 2014, more than 34,000 New Yorkers were listed in a database that prevented them from obtaining firearm permits. (They are still able to buy long guns outside of New York City.)
Cuomo points to SAFE Act after Texas shooting
Law enforcement officials say Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 people and wounded almost as many others during at an attack on the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. President Donald Trump said Monday that the shooting was the result of a “mental health problem,” and resisted what has become a reflexive reprise by Democrats for gun control after mass shooting incidents.
Cuomo, a Democrat positioning himself for a possible 2020 presidential bid, tweeted about the shooting within hours. In 2013, after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Cuomo pushed forward a gun control bill — the SAFE Act — that, among other things, requires mental health professionals to report people “likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others” to a database that makes it more difficult to purchase firearms.
The SAFE Act passed with support from eleven Republicans in the state Senate.
“What do you say? It’s over and over and over and over and over. The federal Republicans offer their thoughts and prayers,” Cuomo told reporters on a Monday conference call. “Thank you, but we have rabbis and priests and ministers and clerics who offer thoughts and prayers. They’re there to do something, they’re there to take action.”
“Why do you let mentally ill people buy guns so they can go shoot people?” the governor continued. “This is political pandering to the NRA. We’ve shown you can take action, we’ve taken action in New York with the SAFE Act and we’ve made this state safer. We have banned purchases by mentally ill people, which is what the president says the problem is. Fine! Then do what we did in New York and ban purchases by mentally ill people.”
As of 2014, more than 34,000 New Yorkers were listed in a database that prevented them from obtaining firearm permits. (They are still able to buy long guns outside of New York City.)
Cuomo points to SAFE Act after Texas shooting
