New York's Governor Blames Nevada's 'Weak Gun Laws' for the Manhattan Mass Shooting
Kathy Hochul's focus on "assault weapons" is puzzling, since the perpetrator easily could have killed the same number of people with a gun that did not fall into that politically defined category.
This week's mass shooting at a Manhattan office building has predictably provoked contending commentary that follows a familiar script. According to critics of gun control, the fact that such crimes periodically happen in jurisdictions with strict firearm laws shows those laws do not work as advertised. But according to advocates of tighter restrictions on guns, the problem is that other jurisdictions refuse to enact them.
"New York has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation," Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday. "We banned assault weapons. We strengthened our Red Flag Law. We closed dangerous loopholes. But our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder….Congress must summon the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and finally pass a national assault weapons ban before more innocent lives are stolen."
Hochul's focus on "assault weapons" is puzzling. It is true that the gun used in Monday's attack, a Palmetto State Armory PA-15 rifle, falls into that category as New York defines it. But that definition has little to do with a weapon's utility to mass murderers.
New York's "assault weapon" ban covers semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines and have any of five prohibited features: a folding or telescoping stock, a protruding pistol grip, a thumbhole stock, a second handgrip or protruding grip that can be held by the non-shooting hand, or a bayonet mount. Needless to say, Shane Devon Tamura, the 27-year-old Las Vegas resident who killed four people before committing suicide at 345 Park Avenue on Monday, could easily have done that with a rifle that lacked those banned features. He also could have done it with a handgun, the type of firearm used in most mass shootings.
Unfazed by that point, New York Times reporters Stefanos Chen and Jonah Bromwich think it is relevant to note, in a story headlined "Even New York's Strict Gun Laws Couldn't Prevent the Midtown Shooting," that "a federal ban on assault rifles ended in 2004." That law, like New York's, left would-be mass murderers with lots of equally lethal alternatives.
More generally, Chen and Bromwich portray the federalism that allows states like Nevada to deviate from the New York model of gun legislation as an intolerable threat to public safety. "A piecemeal network of looser regulations nationwide enabled a lone gunman with no criminal history to drive undetected across several states on his way to the city," they write. "The attack underscores the limits that even a dense web of gun safety laws and private security precautions can have in a country flooded with inexpensive weapons."
As evidence of Nevada's laxness, Chen and Bromwich note that Tamura would have been able to buy the rifle without "additional background checks" because he "had a permit to carry a concealed weapon" issued by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Tamura obtained that permit on May 14, 2022, which means he did not have a disqualifying criminal or psychiatric record at that point.
Did that change? New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tamura had a "documented mental health history." Citing "law enforcement sources," ABC News reports that Tamura "had two mental health crisis holds" in 2022 and 2024. But KTNV, the ABC affiliate in Las Vegas, says "it's not clear if Tamura was ever admitted to a mental health facility after those holds." If not, he would not have been disqualified from gun ownership under Nevada or federal law when he bought the rifle last month.
Judging from the note he left, Tamura suspected he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy caused by injuries he suffered as a high school football player. "We have reason to believe he was focused on the NFL agency that was located in the building," New York Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday. "He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury."
Given his psychological issues, might Tamura have been stymied by a "red flag" law like New York's, which Hochul cited as further evidence of her state's determination to prevent mass shootings? Such laws authorize court orders that temporarily bar people from possessing firearms when they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. But that system can work only when an authorized party files a petition. That does not necessarily happen even when people display what in retrospect look like obvious warning signs, as illustrated by mass shootings in states with red flag laws, including California, Illinois, and Indiana as well as New York. In any case, Nevada is one of the 21 states that have enacted such laws, which demonstrably did not prevent Tamura from carrying out his murderous plan.
Chen and Bromwich allude to another New York law that could more plausibly have made a difference if Tamura had been required to jump through its hoops. To legally buy a handgun or semi-automatic rifle, New Yorkers need a government-issued license that is available to anyone 21 or older who is not legally disqualified, provided he is "of good moral character." That last requirement means the applicant has "the essential character, temperament and judgement necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger [himself] or others."
To aid in the assessment, local licensing officials conduct background investigations, which typically include fingerprinting, an interview, and three or four character references. Given those requirements, Chen and Bromwich say, "David Pucino, the legal director of Giffords Law Center, a gun safety group, said Mr. Tamura would almost certainly have been unable to legally obtain a gun or a permit for it in New York."
That's assuming Tamura, had he applied for a rifle or pistol license as a resident of New York, either would not have been able to muster the requisite references or would have struck local officials as lacking "good moral character." While that's possible given his "documented mental health history," the potential benefits of New York's licensing requirements have to be weighed against the costs they impose on law-abiding residents who pose no threat to public safety.
In addition to fees and documentation, that frequently arduous process requires a lot of time. Orange County, which is part of the Hudson Valley area near New York City, reports that obtaining a purchase permit "takes approximately 6 to 12 months but is dependent upon the applicant's diligence and timely submission of documents." Erie County, in western New York, offers the same estimate. Ontario County, also in western New York, says six to nine months. Upstate in Onondaga County, the sheriff's office says applicants should expect to wait three to six months.
New York, in effect, requires residents to obtain a government license before they are allowed to exercise a constitutional right. Obtaining that permission is time-consuming and contingent on a subjective standard. Whether or not you think that legal regime is consistent with the Second Amendment, most states, including Nevada, have rejected this approach. Hochul thinks that's self-evidently outrageous, and the Times seems to agree.