The same old tactic - but it still works, dammit: "We think it's an important, very important, next step in reducing crime," . . .
A FreeRepublic poster has access to the NY Times online and posted this -
STORY
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
ALBANY, Jan. 2 — Five months after New York adopted the nation's strictest gun controls, Gov. George E. Pataki today called for a campaign against illegal gun trafficking, with tougher criminal penalties and the creation of a state police team.
The proposals amount to an admission that the changes made last year will make little difference as long as guns are easy to buy in other states and import into New York, a point his aides acknowledged. The proposals also further underscore the vast distance between Mr. Pataki, a Republican, and the national Republican Party on gun controls.
"We think it's an important, very important, next step in reducing crime," the governor said, speaking to reporters at the swearing-in of a new judge of the Court of Appeals, Victoria A. Graffeo.
The next six paragraphs are non-gun related - Oatka
Mr. Pataki's comments signaled his first major policy proposal for the new year, one of several he will offer on Wednesday in his annual State of the State speech. Unlike recent years, when rent control, tax cuts or health care subsidies dominated the agenda here, this year presents no overarching issue for the governor and the State Legislature, but there is also no shortage of important matters to address.
State lawmakers are worried that New York could face an electric power shortage like the one in California, and Mr. Pataki said today that he had some plans for avoiding that fate.
This year, New York also faces a number of problems whose solutions may run into the billions of dollars, like renewing the Child Health Plus program, finding a new source of money for the nearly broke toxic waste cleanup program, and figuring out how to pay for planned mass transit projects after voters rejected a $3.8 billion transportation bond act in November.
The Republican leader of the State Senate, Joseph L. Bruno, has staked out investment in biotechnology research, energy conservation and, in light of last year's controversy in Florida, changes in election procedures as his primary issues. "The objective, really, is to create access, ready access, so that people can vote that want to vote," he said today.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, is still dealing with the fallout from an attempt by a rival faction to topple him last year. The Assembly will weigh a number of proposals intended, in part, to address dissidents' concerns and loosen the power of the speaker. Mr. Silver must also select a new majority leader, the second-highest post in the chamber, a choice that is fraught with regional and factional jealousies.
Mr. Pataki will propose his 2001-2002 budget next Tuesday, and some legislators are predicting that after sizable spending increases in recent years, growth could be less this time because of a slowing economy and promised tax cuts that take effect this year. The governor has proposed a modest package of tax cuts for businesses and homeowners, and today he called for expansion of the Empire Zone program, in which the state offers incentives for employers to move to blighted areas.
But the issues that end up lighting a fire under the Capitol are often ones that were not widely anticipated at the start of the year, making prediction a dicey game. Last year, Mr. Pataki waited until March to propose a sweeping gun control package, catching legislators in both parties by surprise. Despite considerable opposition from Senate Republicans, the package was passed in June, and Mr. Pataki signed it in August.
The new law will make New York the first state to require "ballistic fingerprinting" of all new guns sold, so that the telltale markings they leave on bullets and shell casings can be entered into a state computer database. The law requires criminal background checks on buyers at gun shows, bans assault weapons, raises the age for buying a handgun to 21 from 18, requires that trigger locks be included with all new handguns sold, and requires gun owners to report lost or stolen guns to the police within 24 hours.
Today, the governor proposed the creation of a new unit within the state police devoted exclusively to combating illegal gun trafficking. Law enforcement officials say that three of every four guns used in crimes in New York were originally sold in another state and then imported and sold here illegally.
Mr. Pataki and his aides would not say how big the antigun unit would be, but he said he would devote "substantial resources" to it.
The governor called for longer prison sentences for illegal gun possession and possession with intent to sell. He said he would also close loopholes that prosecutors have long complained allow traffickers to avoid the harsh penalties for illegal sales of several guns at once.
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
A FreeRepublic poster has access to the NY Times online and posted this -
STORY
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
ALBANY, Jan. 2 — Five months after New York adopted the nation's strictest gun controls, Gov. George E. Pataki today called for a campaign against illegal gun trafficking, with tougher criminal penalties and the creation of a state police team.
The proposals amount to an admission that the changes made last year will make little difference as long as guns are easy to buy in other states and import into New York, a point his aides acknowledged. The proposals also further underscore the vast distance between Mr. Pataki, a Republican, and the national Republican Party on gun controls.
"We think it's an important, very important, next step in reducing crime," the governor said, speaking to reporters at the swearing-in of a new judge of the Court of Appeals, Victoria A. Graffeo.
The next six paragraphs are non-gun related - Oatka
Mr. Pataki's comments signaled his first major policy proposal for the new year, one of several he will offer on Wednesday in his annual State of the State speech. Unlike recent years, when rent control, tax cuts or health care subsidies dominated the agenda here, this year presents no overarching issue for the governor and the State Legislature, but there is also no shortage of important matters to address.
State lawmakers are worried that New York could face an electric power shortage like the one in California, and Mr. Pataki said today that he had some plans for avoiding that fate.
This year, New York also faces a number of problems whose solutions may run into the billions of dollars, like renewing the Child Health Plus program, finding a new source of money for the nearly broke toxic waste cleanup program, and figuring out how to pay for planned mass transit projects after voters rejected a $3.8 billion transportation bond act in November.
The Republican leader of the State Senate, Joseph L. Bruno, has staked out investment in biotechnology research, energy conservation and, in light of last year's controversy in Florida, changes in election procedures as his primary issues. "The objective, really, is to create access, ready access, so that people can vote that want to vote," he said today.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, is still dealing with the fallout from an attempt by a rival faction to topple him last year. The Assembly will weigh a number of proposals intended, in part, to address dissidents' concerns and loosen the power of the speaker. Mr. Silver must also select a new majority leader, the second-highest post in the chamber, a choice that is fraught with regional and factional jealousies.
Mr. Pataki will propose his 2001-2002 budget next Tuesday, and some legislators are predicting that after sizable spending increases in recent years, growth could be less this time because of a slowing economy and promised tax cuts that take effect this year. The governor has proposed a modest package of tax cuts for businesses and homeowners, and today he called for expansion of the Empire Zone program, in which the state offers incentives for employers to move to blighted areas.
But the issues that end up lighting a fire under the Capitol are often ones that were not widely anticipated at the start of the year, making prediction a dicey game. Last year, Mr. Pataki waited until March to propose a sweeping gun control package, catching legislators in both parties by surprise. Despite considerable opposition from Senate Republicans, the package was passed in June, and Mr. Pataki signed it in August.
The new law will make New York the first state to require "ballistic fingerprinting" of all new guns sold, so that the telltale markings they leave on bullets and shell casings can be entered into a state computer database. The law requires criminal background checks on buyers at gun shows, bans assault weapons, raises the age for buying a handgun to 21 from 18, requires that trigger locks be included with all new handguns sold, and requires gun owners to report lost or stolen guns to the police within 24 hours.
Today, the governor proposed the creation of a new unit within the state police devoted exclusively to combating illegal gun trafficking. Law enforcement officials say that three of every four guns used in crimes in New York were originally sold in another state and then imported and sold here illegally.
Mr. Pataki and his aides would not say how big the antigun unit would be, but he said he would devote "substantial resources" to it.
The governor called for longer prison sentences for illegal gun possession and possession with intent to sell. He said he would also close loopholes that prosecutors have long complained allow traffickers to avoid the harsh penalties for illegal sales of several guns at once.
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company