is illegal for anyone under 21 to purchase a handgun from an FFL. It has
been illegal for over 30 years and neither New York State or the New York
Times is able to locate that federal law. Then again, neither could Al Gore
during the election.

Pataki Seeks New Measures Against Guns

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/03/nyregion/03STAT.html

January 3, 2001

By RICHARD P?REZ-PE?A

ALBANY, Jan. 2 Five months after New York adopted the nation’s
strictest gun controls, Gov. George E. Pataki today called for a
campaign against illegal gun trafficking, with tougher criminal
penalties and the creation of a state police team.

The proposals amount to an admission that the changes made last
year will make little difference as long as guns are easy to buy in
other states and import into New York, a point his aides
acknowledged. The proposals also further underscore the vast
distance between Mr. Pataki, a Republican, and the national
Republican Party on gun controls.

“We think it’s an important, very important, next step in reducing
crime,” the governor said, speaking to reporters at the swearing-in
of a new judge of the Court of Appeals, Victoria A. Graffeo.

Mr. Pataki’s comments signaled his first major policy proposal for
the new year, one of several he will offer on Wednesday in his
annual State of the State speech. Unlike recent years, when rent
control, tax cuts or health care subsidies dominated the agenda
here, this year presents no overarching issue for the governor and
the State Legislature, but there is also no shortage of important
matters to address.
{ snip }

But the issues that end up lighting a fire under the Capitol are
often ones that were not widely anticipated at the start of the
year, making prediction a dicey game. Last year, Mr. Pataki waited
until March to propose a sweeping gun control package, catching
legislators in both parties by surprise. Despite considerable
opposition from Senate Republicans, the package was passed in June,
and Mr. Pataki signed it in August.

The new law will make New York the first state to require
“ballistic fingerprinting” of all new guns sold, so that the
telltale markings they leave on bullets and shell casings can be
entered into a state computer database. The law requires criminal
background checks on buyers at gun shows, bans assault weapons,
raises the age for buying a handgun to 21 from 18, requires that
trigger locks be included with all new handguns sold, and requires
gun owners to report lost or stolen guns to the police within 24
hours.

Today, the governor proposed the creation of a new unit within the
state police devoted exclusively to combating illegal gun
trafficking. Law enforcement officials say that three of every four
guns used in crimes in New York were originally sold in another
state and then imported and sold here illegally.

Mr. Pataki and his aides would not say how big the antigun unit
would be, but he said he would devote “substantial resources” to
it.

The governor called for longer prison sentences for illegal gun
possession and possession with intent to sell. He said he would
also close loopholes that prosecutors have long complained allow
traffickers to avoid the harsh penalties for illegal sales of
several guns at once.

The New York Times on the Web

http://www.nytimes.com