U.S. Senator Charles Schumer
ALBANY – U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have announced a push to prevent known or suspected terrorists from purchasing guns in New York State.
Schumer and Cuomo are asking the federal government to officially add the U.S. Terror Watch List to the criteria it uses for federal background checks in New York State.
To two say this would prevent known or suspected terrorists from legally purchasing guns and would cross-check the terror watch list with a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) request, effectively closing the terror gap within the state and barring individuals on federal terror watch lists from legally arming themselves.
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo
Schumer noted that the terror watch list is restricted by the federal government. Cuomo said that, if the federal government won’t use the terrorist watch list in conducting background checks to restrict guns to known or suspected terrorists, Congress must develop a mechanism to grant states access to the list and allow them to keep their residents safe.
Schumer and Cuomo say there is urgency to stop terror suspects from gaining legal access to weapons of war, something they claim Congress has failed to prevent on the national level.
In November the U.S. Senate considered a bill banning gun sales to individuals on the federal Terrorism Watch List but that measure was eventually defeated.
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