NEW YORK — On Thursday, sweeping new gun control laws passed the Senate and the Assembly and are headed to the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
She is expected to sign the legislation which would raise to 21 the age at which someone can purchase semiautomatic weapons, mandate micro-stamping on new firearms and empower health care professionals to apply for protection orders under a "red flag law."
Another two bills — creation of a task force on social media extremism and prohibition of the sale of body armor — passed in the Senate.
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All the bills come in the wake of deadly shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas. Ten people were killed and three injured at a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo May 14. Ten days later, on May 24, an 18-year-old killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers and wounded 17 others in Uvalde.
Also on Thursday, Westchester County officials took a slightly different approach to gun safety by requiring sellers of firearms to post notices warning about the dangers of weapons at the point of sale.
The law, which goes into effect in 90 days, was passed unanimously by the county Board of Legislators and signed by County Executive George Latimer.
Latimer acknowledged there was little that could be done on the county level to prevent access to firearms. It was able, however, to ban gun shows on county property, but not private property.
The warning signs have to be on at least letter-size paper and be in at least 24-point bold type.
The warning states that access to a weapon in the home dramatically increases the risk of suicide, homicide and death to household members. It also has phone numbers for crisis prevention and suicide hotlines.
When a license for a weapon is issued, the county clerk is also required to give the licensee a written copy of the notice.
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