New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. But after Monday’s mass shooting in Midtown, Manhattan, gun safety advocates acknowledge those regulations can only accomplish so much when other states have more relaxed gun laws. 

The shooting, where a gunman from Nevada drove across the country to New York City before opening fire and killing four in an office building, has sparked renewed calls from Democrats for new nationwide gun regulations.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, during an appearance on Spectrum News NY1’s Inside City Hall Wednesday, touted New York’s laws as a potential example for other states and the nation. 

“We’ve banned assault weapons. There’s no high-capacity magazines,” she said, before adding that as long as other states do not have those regulations “and someone can cross our state lines by simply getting into a vehicle, we are not safe.”

What You Need To Know

  • After Monday’s mass shooting in Midtown, Manhattan, gun safety advocates acknowledge those regulations can only accomplish so much when other states have more relaxed gun laws and a determined gunman can cross state lines

  • The Giffords Law Center ranks New York as having the fourth strongest gun laws in the nation, touting its universal background checks, red flag law and age restrictions, among other regulations

  • The shooting has prompted calls from Democrats for new gun regulations at the federal level. Gov. Kathy Hochul touted New York’s laws as a potential example for other states and the nation
  • In an interview with Spectrum News, one gun rights advocate dismissed calls for new gun regulations in light of the Manhattan mass shooting, calling instead for more funding for mental health

Congressman Ritchie Torres, a Democrat representing the Bronx, said New York “has to live with the consequences of the lax gun laws from other states. It’s unfair. It feels like we’ve been stripped of control of our own destiny.”

As it stands currently, America is a patchwork of gun laws: 50 different states, 50 different sets of regulations. 

Organizations that advocate for tough gun regulations rank New York among the states with the toughest gun laws. The Giffords Law Center lists New York fourth in the nation, touting its universal background checks, red flag law and age restrictions, among other regulations. 

Those laws are credited with helping New York have one of the lowest rates of gun deaths per capita of any state, according to an analysis by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. 

(Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions)

However, analysts say, strong state gun laws only accomplish so much if there is a void at the federal level — especially if a determined gunman chooses to cross state lines. 

“When you have a neighboring state or a state across the country that has weaker gun laws, you can’t help but be affected by those things,” Joshua Horwitz, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, said.

“In Nevada, they’ve really changed their gun laws a lot in the last couple of years, but it’s not like New York’s law, right? In Nevada, it’s much easier to get a concealed carry license. They don’t have an assault weapons ban,” he added. 

In an interview with Spectrum News, one gun rights advocate dismissed calls for new gun regulations in light of the Manhattan mass shooting. 

“The only thing regulation-wise that could have prevented Monday is there needs to be more public funding for mental health. The United States clearly has a mental health crisis, and as a society, we sweep it under the rug,” Luis Valdes with Gun Owners of America said. “But in terms of gun control, nothing would have stopped it.”

Gun reform advocates admit that getting new gun restrictions passed at the federal level is unlikely while Republicans control Congress and the White House. 

In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to review and eliminate policies seen as infringing on Second Amendment rights.