New York governor: ‘I don’t want 18-year-olds to have guns’

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Wednesday called on state lawmakers to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21 following a massacre at an elementary school in Texas.

“I don’t want 18-year-olds to have guns,” Hochul said at a meeting of the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns, a group with law enforcement representatives from nine Northeastern states.

“I want to work with the legislature to do something that is far more common sense than we have right now. At minimum, the AR-15s, but I’m going to take a look at everything,” she added.

Hochul’s comments come a day after a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. The gunman reportedly bought two AR-15-style rifles and ammunition legally in the days after his 18th birthday.

In her remarks, Hochul connected the tragedy to a mass shooting earlier this month at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., that left 10 people dead and three injured. The alleged gunman was 18 years old, and Hochul has said he used an AR-15 purchased legally in the state.

“The common denominator?” Hochul said. “There are three. The weapon was an AR-15, the perpetrator was a male and the age of the perpetrator is 18.”

Senate Democrats say a major floor debate on gun control is inevitable following the two mass shootings. But Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues Wednesday that he will not immediately bring gun control measures to the floor, as he doesn’t expect them to muster enough Republican votes to pass.  

Hochul also said state police will conduct daily check-ins at schools until the end of the academic year. New York State Police Superintendent Kevin Bruen said the agency is “physically going” to schools in its patrol area and will reach out to school administrators in areas where local law enforcement agencies may already have coverage.

“Police agencies need to reach out, and communities need to reach back out to the police and we need to reestablish better relationships across the state,” Bruen said.

Hochul and gun control advocates are also facing a looming Supreme Court decision on New York’s concealed carry law, which allows people to carry a gun in public only if they prove they need greater protection than others. Justices seemed wary of the law during arguments in November, the first major Second Amendment clash in more than a decade. 

Hochul said if the court overturns the law, she would consider calling a special session of the state legislature. The state’s annual legislative session concludes in the first week of June.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect the people of this state,” Hochul said.