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Assmbly Spkr Says Gun Law Provision Could be Delayed

Office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

The Speaker of the State Assembly says a portion of New York’s gun control laws, set to take effect April 15th, may be post poned while talks continue on how to amend the provision.

Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders are talking about amending the state’s gun control laws to reverse a ban on the sale of 10 bullet magazines. They say the law as written presents a conflict because the 10 round magazines are still allowed at shooting ranges and sporting competitions, but under the impending ban, gun owners would no longer be allowed to buy them in New York for those purposes.

But they’ve failed so far to reach agreement on how to change the law, and the legislature, after they finish the budget,  is set to be on vacation until the April 15th implementation date.  Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says it’s possible that portion of the law could be post poned for a while.

“There might be just a suspension of the April 15th date to avoid any crisis,” Silver said. “And to give us the ability to keep moving on that.”

Lawmakers were still meeting to hash out budget details before they could resolve other issues, like the gun law amendments. 

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of public radio stations in New York state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.