BUFFALO, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Monday to strengthen New York's gun laws. Hochul was joined by Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
Ten bills were signed into law.
The bills include banning anyone under the age of 21 from buying or owning a semi-automatic rifle. The bills also aim to strengthen red flag laws and limit the sale of body armor to only law enforcement. In addition, large scale ammunition magazines will no longer be legal in New York State.
In New York, social media networks will now be required to report hateful conduct on their platforms. Hochul also announced that New York is going to establish a taskforce on social media and violent extremism to "investigate the role of social media in promoting domestic terror."
In Monday's press conference, Hochul said when it comes to stopping gun violence it's time to take action.
"And this is a crisis, the scale of which requires a national response at the federal level and from each and every state. But here in New York we don't wait - we lead," Hochul said. "We already have the strongest laws in the nation, but even that's not enough. Because when we see loopholes we close them. When we see laws that need to be strengthened, we strengthen them. If anyone tries to evade our laws we stop them, because this is a moment of reckoning for us as New Yorkers and as Americans."
The Governor was also joined by State Senators Tim Kennedy and Sean Ryan and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
"For us in Buffalo, this is very personal. We are still hurting. We are still grieving. And we are still in pain from what happened in our community on May 14," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
Citing many of the mass shootings that have happened since May 14, Governor Hochul compared these laws to another one.
"We mandated seatbelts. Yeah, we took away the freedom to ride in a car without a seatbelt. It was a very big deal when it happened, but people adapt, they got used to it, and guess what? We saved the lives of thousands of children, so it was clearly worth it. And now guns are the leading cause of their death," says Governor Hochul.
Early Monday morning Mayor Brown spoke at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport as he was leaving to go to the signing in New York City.
"It is not stopping. And the question is not if there is going to be another mass shooting - the question is where and when," Brown said. "And so action must be taken, and I'm very pleased that Gov. Hochul and the members of the state legislature are taking swift and decisive action."