New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a strict series of gun control regulations, days after a racially motivated shooting in Buffalo that killed ten people.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Hochul said that she would sign several executive orders to restrict access to firearms and monitor "online extremism."
These include a measure authorizing the New York State Police to seize weapons from any gun owner "whenever they have probable cause to believe that an individual is a threat to themselves or others." She did not give further details about the proposal, and the text of the order, yet to be signed, has not been released. However, she announced it would draw on authority conferred by the state's "Red Flag Law" passed in 2019, which allows law enforcement to seize weapons when a court issues an Extreme Risk Protection Order against an individual.
Hochul also announced that a new 'Office of Counterterrorism' would be created within the State Police with an exclusive focus on "domestic terrorism," which would be required to monitor social media for evidence of violent tendencies and extremist ideology. She added that she would formally refer social media companies to the New York Attorney General Letita James's office for investigation for failing to stop "radicalization" of users towards "white supremacy." That afternoon, James announced on Twitter that platforms "Twitch, 4chan, 8chan, and Discord" were under investigation.
Apart from her executive orders, Hochul further said that she would propose legislation requiring all semi-automatic handguns made or sold in New York to "micro-stamp" ammunition after it is fired, making weapons easier to trace by police. Micro-stamping is a controversial and proprietary technology that, when a weapon is fired, impresses a small and unique engraving on ammunition cartridges. California is the only state that currently mandates it for all semi-automatic weapons, with an exemption for law enforcement.
Previous attempts to introduce it in New York, such as in 2010 through Bill A6468, did not pass the state Senate. Gun manufacturers have argued that the technology is flawed and cost prohibitive. Hochul also announced measures to expand the definition of "firearms" to include different types of guns but gave no details.
The announcement comes after Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old graduate of Susquehanna Valley High School in Conklin, N.Y. opened fire on black patrons at a Tops supermarket in a predominantly African-American neighborhood of Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. Thirteen were shot, two being white, and ten were killed – including Aaron Slater Jr., a security guard and former Buffalo Police officer who opened fire at Gendron, who was wearing body armor. The attack was livestreamed onto Twitch by Gendron.
Gendron had previously written a 180-page "manifesto" of reasons for the attack, where he called himself a white supremacist and cited the "Great Replacement" – a conspiracy suggesting that white Christians are being systematically replaced by nonwhite citizens in the U.S. population. His weapon, a Bushmaster XM-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, had inscribed on its body several racial slurs, the phrase "Here's your reparations!" (referring to calls for descendants of slaves in America to receive reparations), and the names of other mass shooters. Authorities have claimed that Gendron was radicalized on social media website 4Chan.
Per ABC News, Hochul – who is running in November's gubernatorial election – had planned the announcement before the Buffalo shooting, but delayed it to visit the city, which is her hometown, with President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
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