Res. No. 875
Resolution in support of S.3573/A.5866, which would amend the Penal Law to ban all large capacity ammunition feeding devices regardless of date of manufacture.
By Council Members Williams, Cabrera, Gentile, James, Koppell, Recchia and Rose
Whereas, There are some gun magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition; and
Whereas, Such firepower allows an individual to kill and injure many people within seconds without needing to reload the gun; and
Whereas, The recent mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, where Jared Lee Loughner used a Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun equipped with a large-capacity ammunition magazine to shoot many innocent individuals, highlights just how much harm these large magazines can cause; and
Whereas, In 1994, long before the Arizona shooting took place, New York State lawmakers banned large capacity ammunition feeding devices, a definition that includes gun magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition; and
Whereas, The law applies only to large capacity ammunition feeding devices manufactured after September 13, 1994; and
Whereas, The New York State Legislature, however, failed to address the fact that individuals can still legally purchase gun magazines manufactured prior to September 13, 1994; and
Whereas, Senator Eric Adams recently visited two gun stores in upstate New York and was able to purchase two 30-round magazines for an assault rifle at one of the stores; and
Whereas, Both stores claimed that they were permitted to sell the gun magazines because the magazines were manufactured prior to September 13, 1994; and
Whereas, It is difficult to enforce the current law because often there is no way to determine when a magazine was made; and
Whereas, New York needs to strengthen its gun violence prevention laws by, among other things, banning all large capacity ammunition feeding devices regardless of their date of manufacture; and
Whereas, Senator Eric Adams and Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries introduced S.3573 and A.5866, respectively, which would amend the Penal Law by banning all large capacity ammunition feeding devices regardless of date of manufacture; and
Whereas, New York State needs to close the existing loophole in order to protect communities from individuals using guns with large capacity ammunition feeding devices; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York supports S.3573/A.5866, which would amend the Penal Law to ban all large capacity ammunition feeding devices regardless of date of manufacture.
SA
5/3/11
LS# 2200