"It just keeps happening," Hochul said on Monday, referring to a string of shootings that left at least 15 people dead and more than 60 others wounded in eight US states this weekend. "Shots ring out. Flags come down, and nothing changes. Except here in New York. In New York, we are taking strong bold action."
Under the order signed by Hochul that is set to be debated in New York’s State Assembly, the state’s so-called Red Flag law will be expanded to allow more people, including health-care professionals, to file risk orders that could lead to weapons confiscations from potentially dangerous people.
Semi-automatic rifles, already difficult to purchase in New York, will be added to the list of weapons requiring a permit and will only be available to those over age 21.
Another bill would outlaw the sale of body armor to people outside law enforcement or other state-designated professions, and require microstamping of bullets to better trace their origin.
Social media companies will also be required to improve their policies and response to hateful conduct on their platforms, and make reporting of potential gun violence more easily accessible.
The United States has the worst gun-related violence in the world. Citizens have the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the US Constitution but some experts have said the nation's growing mental health problems are responsible for such violence rather than firearms in and of themselves.
The Gun Violence Archive says there have been more than 240 mass shootings in the United States this year, with four or more people killed or injured in each incident.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says guns are the number one killer of children in the United States. The gunman who killed the 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in the Texas town of Uvalde last month, before being shot dead by police, had purchased semi-automatic rifles and a body armor suit right after he turned 18, news reports said.
The National Rifle Association lobby and its supporters have made it virtually impossible to enact tough gun laws in states under its influence. Republicans and Democrats aligned to President Joe Biden have even control of the US Senate at present.
A ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was passed in 1994 with bipartisan support from lawmakers. Mass shootings went down in the decade that followed. But when the legislation reached expiry in 2004 under then Republican President George W. Bush and was not renewed, such weapons were allowed to be sold again. Mass shootings have since increased.