Readers React: New State Gun Legislation

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed gun legislation on Tuesday that made state laws the toughest in the country.

This new legislation includes expanding the state’s ban on assault weapons and strengthened guidelines to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. According to the new laws, owners of previously legal semiautomatic rifles will be allowed to keep their weapons but will have a year to register them with police. Future sale of these guns is prohibited.

The new restrictions come on the heels of recent gun violence, including the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in which 20 children and six adults were killed. Since the shootings, outcry for stricter gun control has been louder than ever, but these new laws do not come without opposition.

On our Facebook page, we asked readers their thoughts on the measures:

Thomas J. Lynch wrote, "sadly only a pre-presidental run media stunt by Cuomo. The bozos will change nothing for the mentally ill or criminals who are still going to murders, beat, steal, etc. The only change is they just tore another corner off the Consitution and our (my) freedoms and ripped some of the last shreds of self protection from the people of the state of NY."

Mark Larson added, "Hey, you don't think that the pols are using this "gun control" stuff to distract us from the fact that the country is broke, the state is broke and that we are hurtling towards a time when Greece -- where teachers, cops and bus drivers throw Molotov cocktails at banks -- is going to look like a paragon of fiscal responsibility in comparison, do ya?"

Tim Maroney said, "Other nations have suffered similar rampages, but they have reacted quickly to impose new and stricter gun laws...You say it's political and can't work, I say it may be political but us CAN and HAS worked."

David Liff wrote, "The right to arms is already controlled, we don't have the right to nukes, bombs, fully automatic weapons, tanks, and a wide range of military level hardware. For some reason the line has been drawn at semi-automatic weapons. Keeping guns out of the hands of the weak minded, or criminals makes sense. There are a lot of sensible gun owners who take ownership very seriously. But there are a lot of very strange people with strange ideas who are more likely to use weapons inappropriately."

We want to hear more. Do you support tighter gun control measures? Do you believe the state is taking the right action? Add your comment below.