Charles Schumer and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday a push to prevent known or suspected terrorists from purchasing guns in New York State. State officials say this is because during a background check process when purchasing a gun, the federal government does not check if the person is on the U.S Terror Watch List.
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If the federal government won’t use the list in conducting background checks, the lawmakers want Congress to grant states access to it. Schumer and Cuomo say that’s a risky loophole.
Both Schumer and Cuomo said they believe there are ways to make the changes without compromising the terrorist watch list.
“I paid a political price”, he said.
Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy last week proposed using an executive order to ban such gun sales in his state after the December 2 San Bernardino, Calif., massacre in which 14 people were killed by a husband-wife terror duo.
NY passed within the weeks after Sandy Hook “the most comprehensive gun control law in the nation”, the SAFE Act, Cuomo said, and he’s proud of that.
He acknowledged that there is no “perfect list”, answering concerns by Republicans that there are about 16,000 people on the no-fly list who should not be there.
“This is going to have to be a national response”, he said. “I am a gun owner”.
“If you have a criminal background, you don’t have the right to have a gun”, Cuomo told CNN’s “New Day” co-host Alisyn Camerota.
“The Congress, which is so bullish on security and protection and the military and fighting terrorism and they’re robust and they’re ready to go, but you would allow terrorists who are suspected of terrorism in this country buy a gun?”
The spate of shootings and the terrorism in San Bernadino, “I think is the new normal”, Cuomo said.
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“Too many senators were in the vice grip of the NRA”, Schumer said.
