Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) has introduced federal legislation to ban the sale of high capacity magazines that allow for extended firing of a semiautomatic weapon before having to reload, part of the long-time gun control advocate’s efforts to tighten regulations in the wake of the Newtown shooting.
McCarthy expressed cautious optimism about the prospects for stricter regulation, despite a lack of bipartisan communication so far on the issue.
“I have to think that this has been different. Obviously it’s because of the children… but it’s a cumulation of all the mass shootings in the last couple years,” McCarthy said. “Everybody started putting it together.”
In addition to the high-capacity magazine ban, McCarthy said she planned to introduce a renewal of the assault weapons ban to match the Senate version introduced last month by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
McCarthy said she plans to meet with Vice President Joe Biden’s commission on gun control to discuss possible measures, the details of which have not yet been released. The commission is scheduled to put out a report by the end of January.
“They’re going to be looking at a lot of things,” McCarthy said. “They’re going to be looking at what [President Barack Obama] can do with executive order.”
McCarthy’s hopes for legislative change are dependent on at least some votes from the Republican majority in the House. And while the Mineola congresswoman said she has strong relationships with members across the aisle, she was not aware of any Republican move towards gun legislation.
“In their conferences after the shooting, it was not brought up,” McCarthy said. “It was not on their agenda.”
Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) indicated his support for an assault weapons ban last week on MSNBC, but House GOP leadership has not staked out a public position.
In his State of the State address Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for a tighter assault weapons ban, restrictions on high capacity magazines, mandated recertification of gun permits and greater scrutiny of mental health records during gun background checks.
Prior to Cuomo’s release of his gun control agenda, state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck), a strong gun control advocate, told Blank Slate Media she was concerned about a fall-off of public pressure for gun legislation weeks after the Connecticut shooting.
“I’m optimistic there will be something… what that something is, I’m not as optimistic. Only if the public is sustained in their anger, will we get something meaningful in Albany and Washington,” Schimel said.
Schimel said anger in Albany has lessened as the focus of legislators and the public is diverted by other priorities and the day-to-day business of government.
“The only progress I can report is that you’re calling me about it,” Schimel said. “My office is in constant contact with the Assembly Codes Committee… we’re trying to reach out and we’re not hearing anything specific.”
Cuomo, for his part, quashed speculation in an Newsday interview that new laws may include mandatory microstamping – a process of laser-etching markings on shell casings designed to allow law enforcement to identify guns used in shootings.
According to an anonymous source interviewed by the Daily News, Cuomo is prepared to launch a public political offensive against Senate Republicans if they refuse to pass gun control provisions – a report cheered by Schimel, who said it demonstrated the governor’s seriousness on the issue.
Schimel, who has made microstamping a signature issue in her nearly six years in the Assembly, has signed a letter advocating for stronger gun control along with 77 other members of the Assembly’s Democratic caucus.
No Republicans have yet signed on to the effort, but Schimel said she and her allies were working to bring the effort across the aisle.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Center) has put forward a list of policies to crack down on illegal guns, including harsher penalties for illegal weapon possession, gun possession or gang activity on school grounds and the use of guns to commit felonies. Skelos’ proposal would also create a violent felon registry and ban “community guns” shared among multiple people.
His plan does not ban assault weapons or high-capacity magazines and does not tighten background check requirements for gun owners – measures supported by Schimel and other gun control activists.
Schimel criticized members of the Assembly who she said were waiting for Washington to act before taking steps at the state level.
“You saw with the fiscal cliff – what do you think we’re going to get out at the federal government? At the state government, we have the opportunity to make some real changes to our law,” Schimel said.
Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) could not be reached for comment.
