New York state has banned the sale of semi-automatic weapons to anyone under the age of 21 in an effort to curb violence, following the recent massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde that killed 10 and 21 (19 children) respectively in recent weeks. .
Until now, the minimum age to obtain these weapons was 18.
The state’s governor, Democrat Kathy Hochul, signed a package of measures approved by state parliament in record time Monday, which includes banning the sale of bulletproof vests and protective helmets to people who do not practice certain occupations.
“Firearm violence is an epidemic that is tearing our country apart,” said the governor, accompanied by House leaders who made it possible to approve the package, and local officials such as prosecutor Letitia James.
Hochul urged the federal Congress to “take the lead and take immediate action” to significantly prevent gun violence, describing it as a “national problem”.
“Lives depend on it,” he insisted.
Last weekend alone, 10 dead and more than 20 injured were counted in a series of gun attacks across the country.
According to a CBS News poll, the majority of Americans support stricter rules on gun ownership, and 81% support background checks for all potential buyers.
Faced with a wave of gun violence, President Joe Biden, also a Democrat, once again attacked Republicans who opposed the restriction of gun sales, lamenting that places like schools or hospitals were becoming “death camps”, battlefields.
On Sunday, the president said, “Enough,” again. “If we can’t properly ban assault weapons, we should at least raise his age to 21,” he tweeted.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, gun violence in the United States has killed more than 18,000 people so far in 2022, including nearly 10,300 suicides.
The most serious events so far are the May 14 mass shooting of 10 African Americans killed by an 18-year-old white supremacist at a Buffalo supermarket in New York; and 10 days later the shooting of an 18-year-old boy at a school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers.
In 2020, there were an estimated 393 million firearms in circulation in the United States, more than the country’s population.
source: Noticias
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