Despite Push From Mayor, State Senate Shelves Microstamping Bill
By: NY1 News
Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Albany Tuesday to unsuccessfully urge the State Senate to crack down on illegal guns.
He was joined by other mayors from New York State, Democratic candidate for state attorney general and State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and other members of the law enforcement community who were lobbying for microstamping technology.
The process allows guns to be traced through cartridge casings found at crime scenes even if the weapon is never located.
Opponents of the legislation say the bill would be a burden to businesses in the state, with some companies even threatening to stop selling guns in New York if the legislation is passed.
"The cost of the average gun, Ray Kelly estimates, is something like $450. So $12 is not a noticeable thing, it's not going to be a determinate as to whether anybody's going to buy a gun or not buy a gun," said Bloomberg. "And in any case, I don't know how to compare the $12 cost to the cost of lives."
"It will enable us to establish patterns between gun activity and gun sales," said Kelly. "We'll certainly strengthen prosecutions and t will deter store purchases."
Opponents also say that microstamping technology has not yet been proven to work.
The bill has passed the State Assembly but was put aside by the senate Tuesday after it failed to get enough support.
In a statement, the mayor said, "This was a defeat for our police officers, district attorneys, and the public, and a victory for criminals who use illegal guns to shoot and kill innocent people."
My apologies for the un-High Road title (which has been changed). I was caught up in a celebratory case of schadenfreude.
By: NY1 News
Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Albany Tuesday to unsuccessfully urge the State Senate to crack down on illegal guns.
He was joined by other mayors from New York State, Democratic candidate for state attorney general and State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and other members of the law enforcement community who were lobbying for microstamping technology.
The process allows guns to be traced through cartridge casings found at crime scenes even if the weapon is never located.
Opponents of the legislation say the bill would be a burden to businesses in the state, with some companies even threatening to stop selling guns in New York if the legislation is passed.
"The cost of the average gun, Ray Kelly estimates, is something like $450. So $12 is not a noticeable thing, it's not going to be a determinate as to whether anybody's going to buy a gun or not buy a gun," said Bloomberg. "And in any case, I don't know how to compare the $12 cost to the cost of lives."
"It will enable us to establish patterns between gun activity and gun sales," said Kelly. "We'll certainly strengthen prosecutions and t will deter store purchases."
Opponents also say that microstamping technology has not yet been proven to work.
The bill has passed the State Assembly but was put aside by the senate Tuesday after it failed to get enough support.
In a statement, the mayor said, "This was a defeat for our police officers, district attorneys, and the public, and a victory for criminals who use illegal guns to shoot and kill innocent people."
My apologies for the un-High Road title (which has been changed). I was caught up in a celebratory case of schadenfreude.
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I'm certainly glad that the bill was defeated, which means that some people in office have at least some sense left in them.
