Westfair Online: CRITICAL GUN AND PUBLIC SAFETY LEGISLATION

New York State Senator Shelley B. Mayer was joined recently by Everytown for Gun Safety and Westchester County elected officials to urge Governor Kathy Hochul to sign two Mayer-sponsored bills, which passed both the Senate and Assembly and will enhance public safety.

Mayer’s legislation will require courts to report extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs or red flag laws) to the statewide computerized registry of orders of protection and warrants of arrest.  This legislation will increase protections for the public at large, and particularly victims of domestic and sexual violence, by ensuring law enforcement throughout New York have access to critical public safety information.

ERPOs are issued to prevent a person who is a danger to themselves or others from purchasing and possessing firearms, in addition to requiring the person to surrender any firearms they already own or possess.

Under current law, courts must notify the Division of state police and other law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction, and the Division of Criminal Justice serves the issuance of a temporary or final ERPO. There is currently no requirement that judges provide notice of these orders to the statewide registry.

Her second piece of legislation will require firearm licensing officers to provide additional information about safe storage laws, including child access prevention when issuing licenses. This bill also requires the Division of Criminal Justice to conduct a public awareness campaign about New York’s safe storage laws and to provide educational materials about safe storage practices on its website.

Adriana Pentz, a fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network and a volunteer with the New York chapter of Moms Demand Action, said, “In New York, we have some of the strongest gun safety laws thanks to gunsense champions like Senator Mayer who have continued to introduce and pass critical pieces of legislation that address our country’s ongoing gun violence crisis. We’re grateful that New York has strong extreme risk protection order and secure firearm storage laws, and we know that maximizing their lifesaving impact requires equally strong implementation and education in our communities. With these two measures, our lawmakers will be helping to ensure just that. Now, we urge Governor Hochul to sign them into law so that they can start saving lives.”

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