After Buffalo mass shooting, Hochul announces tougher gun measures in New York

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul put forth a broad slate of actions to strengthen gun laws in New York and quell the spread of white supremacy online in her first full address following the Buffalo shooting that killed 10 people and wounded three over the weekend.

Hochul, during an emotional speech from her Manhattan office, said that the past few days she spent in her hometown of Buffalo in the aftermath of the shooting “have been among the most difficult in my life.”

She condemned the online racist radicalization that fueled the shooter, an 18-year-old white man who drove about 200 miles for the livestreamed attack, which he reportedly planned in detail, according to several online posts and a lengthy manifesto posted online. Those included elements of "white replacement theory," a far-right, racist conspiracy theory falsely alleging white Americans are at risk of being replaced by people of color.

“The truth is, the most serious threat we face as a nation is from within," Hochul said. "It's not from the Russians. Not from people elsewhere. It's white supremacism. It's white nationalism, and it's time we confronted it head on.”

The immediate: Hochul is taking several initial steps that begin immediately. She signed an executive order strengthening the state’s “red flag” law — which is aimed at keeping weapons away from people with serious mental illness — by ordering the State Police to seek emergency orders to prevent individuals from getting guns or keeping guns if they’re believed to be a threat to themselves or others.

It’s been an option before, but it will now be a requirement, she said. In the case of the Buffalo shooter, Payton Gendron, he had a mental health evaluation in the months prior to the shooting, but was not referred to authorities under the existing “red flag” law.

She also signed an order to develop a unit within the Office of Counter Terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services that would focus exclusively on domestic terrorism and develop best practices for individuals in sectors like law enforcement, mental health and schools to address “the rise in homegrown extremism.”

On the local level, there will be a threat assessment management program with teams across the state who will be prepared to deal with threats, she said. The executive order will also establish a unit within the New York State Intelligence Center focusing on monitoring social media.

Hochul said she has formally requested that state Attorney General Tish James investigate the involvement of several social media platforms for ways the companies played into the shooter’s activities. Those may include Twitch, a site owned by Amazon, where the shooter briefly livestreamed his attack, and Discord, a chat application where some of his writings were posted.

In the near future: Hochul said she also wants state lawmakers to act on new gun control legislation before the scheduled end of session by passing a host of bills that were already under consideration prior to the shooting.

She specifically mentioned legislation that would require the microstamping of bullets for semiautomatic pistols to help law enforcement trace cartridge cases found at crime scenes, and a bill requiring law enforcement to report the recovery of any gun to the State Police within 24 hours.

Hochul is also looking to expand New York’s existing ban on assault weapons by including “A.O.W.s,” short for "any other weapon," which are designed to fall in a gray area of unregulated guns.

The legislative session is scheduled to end June 2.

Hochul said it’s “just a start” but she “just spoke to the leadership. I know there's a strong interest in being smart about this.”