Good news -- according to the Associated Press, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature have seemingly come to agreement on a set of new gun control measures.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders have a tentative deal to enact the nation's first gun control measure following last month's Connecticut school shooting, according to people familiar with the negotiations, further tightening gun laws in a state that already has among the nation's strictest.
The tentative agreement would further restrict New York's ban on assault weapons and limit the size of magazines to seven bullets, rather than the current 10. Other elements, pushed by Republicans, would refine a mental health law to make it easier to confine people determined to be a threat to themselves or others.
Senate Republicans also have included a further crackdown on illegal gun trafficking into New York, the people said. Most New York City gun crimes involve weapons illegally brought into the state, state and city officials say.
The latter part of the proposed set of new laws is more important than it may seem, because in the shooting capital of Chicago, for example, the majority of guns used in violent crimes do not come from within the state. The majority of guns used in violence crimes in Illinois are exported from the neighboring state of Indiana, while Illinois also serves as the largest export market for the state of Mississippi according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.
Similarly, an overwhelming majority, 66.5 percent, of guns used in violent crimes in the state of New York come from other states including, but not limited to, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida.
The question now is whether this is any indication of what gun control measures that make it through congress will look like.
I hesitate to guess or hope knowing how irrational and irresponsible Republicans in congress have become.
(stats via Mayors Against Illegal Guns)