As If It's Not Bad Enough That They Have the Yankees, Giants, and Jets!

 Sweeping Limits on Guns Become Law in New York

ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law a sweeping package of gun-control measures on Tuesday, significantly expanding a ban on assault weapons and making New York the first state to change its laws in response to the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.

Mr. Cuomo signed the bill less than an hour after the State Assembly approved it by a 104-to-43 vote on the second full day of the 2013 legislative session. The State Senate, which had in the past resisted more restrictive gun laws, approved the measure 43 to 18 on Monday night.

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Mr. Cuomo, saying that gun violence constituted an emergency requiring immediate action, waived a constitutionally required three-day waiting period between the introduction of legislation and a vote to allow speedy action on the gun-law package. But during the Assembly debate, which lasted nearly five hours, a number of Republicans criticized both the bill's content and the lack of public hearings or other public processes for considering the proposals.

"Why are we being bullied into voting on this bill without our proper, responsible due diligence?" asked Assemblyman Steve Katz, a Hudson Valley Republican. "Solely due to the governor's misguided, egotistic notion that this will advance his presidential aspirations."

Assembly Democrats, who have pushed for new gun-control laws for years, hailed the legislation as long overdue.

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The expanded ban on assault weapons takes effect immediately; New Yorkers who already own guns that are banned under the new law can keep them, but will have to register them with the state within a year. Other provisions of the bill take effect at later dates.