By: Daniela Doria
New York Governor Kathy Hochul visited Rehoboth Open Bible Church on Sunday and gave an address that told gun-traffickers “don’t come to New York.” According to The New York Post, “Hochul announced in her January State of the State address that she was forming a task-force targeting illegal guns. The group includes representatives from the NYPD, the state Attorney General’s Office, Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and police in nearby states.”
“I will continue my fight calling for laws to ban these weapons, regulate them. But until that time, I have my state police out there watching the [state’s] borders, because [illegal weapons are] coming over,” Hochul said during her speech. “Before it gets to our streets, we’re stopping the bad guys at the border, saying, ‘Go back home and sell your weapons of mass destruction back in Tennessee and Georgia and even Pennsylvania,’ ” she claimed. “’ Don’t come to New York, because we’re going to catch you.’ ”
Hochul called on state lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban the sale of AR-15-style rifles to people under 21. This was in response to the tragedies in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, Texas where AR-15 assault weapons were used.
The newly formed gun task-force first met in January. The Governor’s website states, “Representatives from the New York State Police, the New York Police Department, and ATF were joined by law enforcement representatives from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New Hampshire and met for three hours to discuss a host of issues surrounding firearm-related investigations, policing strategies and best practices. The group discussed ways to improve gun data sharing across local, state and federal lines and explored the differences in federal and state laws that relate to ghost guns.”
The task-force issued a statement, ““Gun violence is a public health crisis driven by a plague of illegal guns flowing into New York from out of state,” Governor Hochul said. “We are taking action to tackle this crisis head-on, and this collaboration with our local, interstate, and federal partners will help stop the flow of illegal guns and save lives.”
Hochul is the first female Governor of New York. She is a lawyer, having graduated from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law in 1984. Wikipedia states “In the 2014 New York gubernatorial election, Andrew Cuomo selected Hochul as his running mate; after they won the election, Hochul was inaugurated as lieutenant governor. Cuomo and Hochul were reelected in 2018. Hochul took office as governor of New York on August 24, 2021, after Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. She is running for a full term in 2022.”
