You must now be 21 years old to purchase a semi-automatic shotgun in the state of New York. The fourth most populous state in the UNITED STATES also adopted other measures such as a ban on buying or selling bulletproof vests (as the Buffalo shooter wore), except for some professions such as the police, or an expansion of professions that can activate a “red flag” procedure by reporting a person at risk for the courts to confiscate their weapon.
This set of laws adopted on Monday comes after buffalo racist murderous madness and the Texas school massacre. The two perpetrators of the killings were 18 years old and carried this type of weapon. “Armed violence is an epidemic that is tearing our country apart. Thoughts and prayers won’t solve the problem, but strong actions will, ”said Kathy Hochul, the Democratic governor of New York, where the city of Buffalo is located, on Monday.
No agreement between Democrats and Republicans on weapons
US President Joe Biden himself called for a national ban last week the sale of semi-automatic assault riflesas happened from 1994 to 2004, or not having raised the minimum purchase age from 18 to 21, but the negotiations so far have not resulted in an agreement between Democrats and Republicans.
Behind these two tragedies that rocked the country, the shootings are daily in the United States, like those that happened in Philadelphia (three dead) and Chattanooga (Tennessee, three dead) this weekend. According to a recent study by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, New York State already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and was among the five states in the country with the lowest gun mortality in 2020.
