ICYMI: On Debate Stage, Hochul Makes Gun Safety Central to Her Gubernatorial Campaign

New York, NY – In last night’s gubernatorial debate, Governor Kathy Hochul continued to make gun safety and efforts to protect New Yorkers from violence central to her gubernatorial campaign. Governor Hochul understands the vast majority of New Yorkers want to elect leaders with the courage to fight gun violence. Recent polling from Survey USA shows that 84% of New Yorkers support requiring a background check for all gun purchases and 85% support extreme risk laws. 

On the debate stage, Governor Hochul repeatedly raised the importance of gun safety:

• “I want every child to be safe in the state and having a proliferation of guns everywhere, which is the result of this [Court] decision . . . took away my right as Governor to protect the citizens on our subways, [in] synagogues, or sitting in a classroom.” [Clip]
• “I called the legislature back immediately. I said, ‘we have to address this.’ The Supreme Court gave us the authority to do this. [We identified] the sensitive areas where more people congregate where you really can’t protect them, where you [should] have an expectation of being safe. And that’s exactly what we did.” [Clip] 
• “There is no crime-fighting plan if it doesn’t include guns, illegal guns. And you refuse to talk about how we could do so much more. You didn’t even show up for votes in Washington when a bipartisan group of enlightened legislators voted for an assault weapons ban. We lost another child and a teacher yesterday in St. Louis because people will not support what I was able to get done here in New York and that is a ban on assault weapons for teenagers.” [Clip]
• “Every single day I wake up thinking about how I can fight harder for you and your families . . . [I’m] very much focused on public safety and getting more and more illegal guns off the streets.” [Clip]
• “It is a joke to talk about a crime policy that doesn’t include doing something about illegal guns. When you had the chance as a member of Congress to stand with other Republicans who finally said enough is enough: no more school massacres by teenagers, let’s have background checks, let’s have safety checks, let’s do it smart. You were nowhere to be found, Lee.” [Clip]

Peter Ambler, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Giffords:

“Gun safety will play a decisive role in electing Governor Hochul. In New York, a majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all support commonsense gun safety policies like universal background checks and extreme risk laws. Time and again, Governor Hochul has displayed the courage to fight gun violence. Meanwhile, her opponent has embraced the gun lobby’s ‘guns everywhere’ agenda and refuses to support any gun safety reforms.”

In August, Giffords PAC, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced its endorsement of New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Early in her term, Governor Hochul signed legislation to ban unregulated “ghost guns” and convened public officials from nine Northeastern states to interdict illegal gun trafficking in the Northeast. In the wake of a horrific mass shooting in her hometown of Buffalo, she took immediate action, working with legislators to pass and sign into law a package of gun violence prevention policies that included expanding New York’s red flag law, strengthening gun reporting protocols, closing regulatory loopholes, and raising the legal age to buy semi-automatic rifles to 21 years old.

When the Supreme Court overturned New York’s concealed carry law that had been on the books for more than 100 years, Governor Hochul responded with reasonable and legal restrictions on concealed carry permits, such as expanding eligibility requirements in the permitting process, allowing the state to regulate and standardize required training courses for license applicants, and restricting the carrying of concealed weapons in sensitive locations.

MEDIA REQUESTS

Our experts can speak to the full spectrum of gun violence prevention issues. Have a question? Email us at media@giffords.org.

Contact