Zeldin called out for saying NY should drop ‘red flag’ law before Buffalo shooting

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Lee Zeldin mentioned the state must dump its pink flag legislation, loosen permits for hid weapons and permit New Yorkers to “stand your floor” at a marketing campaign cease simply weeks earlier than a white supremacist allegedly gunned down 10 individuals in Buffalo.

“We should always not have pink flag legal guidelines. They're a really slippery slope that may very well be focusing on you, law-abiding gun house owners,” Zeldin mentioned in a video revealed by Spectrum Information.

A spokeswoman for Zeldin’s gubernatorial marketing campaign didn't reply to a request for remark.

The state pink flag legislation creates a course of for legislation enforcement to take away weapons from the possession of people that have been deemed threats to themselves or others.

Reported lapses within the present legislation, nonetheless, allowed the alleged gunman in Buffalo to own firearms regardless of threatening remarks he made in highschool.

New York can also be among the many states that place the burden on particular person residents to show they've a legally legitimate purpose to have a hid weapon in comparison with different states with looser requirements.

Lee Zeldin.
Rep. Lee Zeldin touted his assist for repealing the 2013 New York SAFE Act, which limits entry to assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
NY1/Spectrum Information

“You shouldn't need to show to the federal government whether or not or not you get a allow. We have to change the usual from ‘might subject’ to ‘shall subject’ on this state,” Zeldin added within the video.

The putative front-runner for the GOP nomination for governor additionally touted his assist for repealing the 2013 New York SAFE Act, which limits entry to assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like these used within the Buffalo assault. 

Zeldin, who has an “A” score from the NRA, additionally spoke in assist of implementing a controversial “stand your floor” legislation within the Empire State.

Lee Zeldin.
Rep. Lee Zeldin has an “A” score from the NRA.
William Farrington

Whereas doubling down on his calls to loosen state gun legal guidelines, Zeldin mentioned “pink flag legal guidelines shouldn’t goal law-abiding New Yorkers” in an announcement Spectrum Information posted on Twitter.

Main rivals seized on the controversy to make their very own case that they'd higher shield Second Modification rights whereas attacking rising crime forward of the June 28 major.  

“Congressman Zeldin needs no restrictions for the mentally unwell acquiring weapons and has flip-flopped on gun rights … for the mentally unwell, we want pink flag legal guidelines with police discretion,” businessman Harry Wilson mentioned in an announcement. 

People gather near Tops Friendly Markets supermarket following a mass shooting.
Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines had been used within the Buffalo assault.
James Keivom

Former Westchester Govt Rob Astorino instructed the Put up that he needs to strengthen the pink flag legislation whereas loosening guidelines round hid weapons, which a state allow permits him to hold. 

“I don't know what his place is on the second modification as a result of he twists and turns and has voted to fund the SAFE Act, after which he needs to repeal it, or fake he does. So I actually don't know what his place is on the Second Modification,” Astorino mentioned of Zeldin.

A fourth candidate within the GOP major, Andrew Giuliani, declined to remark when reached by the Put up Thursday about Zeldin’s feedback within the bombshell video or his personal positions on gun points just like the pink flag legislation.

George Zimmerman, a Florida man who fatally shot black teen Trayvon Martin a decade in the past, efficiently leveraged a stand-your-ground statute as a part of his profitable effort to win acquittal on a homicide cost. 

Weeks after controversial remarks on abortion got here to mild, Zeldin’s gun feedback are opening up one other line of assault from Democrats as they marketing campaign to defend one-party rule in Albany this November.

“Congress has been unable to enact frequent sense gun security laws as a result of NRA-backed members of Congress like Lee Zeldin and former members like Kathy Hochul have fought in opposition to it for many years. As governor, I gained’t flip-flop or pander to the extremes — I’ll stand as much as the gun foyer and use frequent sense to maintain New Yorkers protected,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) from Lengthy Island, who's operating in opposition to Gov. Kathy Hochul and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, mentioned in an announcement

Hochul deflected a query Wednesday about her previous “A” score from the NRA whereas representing a GOP-leaning district in western New York a decade in the past hours after Suozzi criticized her.

“He’s nowhere near an answer round gun violence and truly a lot of the options will make gun violence worse,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who's vying for the Democratic nomionation for governor, mentioned Thursday of Zeldin’s feedback. 

A woman ties a ballon to a memorial.
Ten individuals died when the shooter opened fireplace at a Tops grocery store.
James Keivom

And he added, “I’m not even certain if I’ve heard an apology from (Hochul) for the work she did on behalf of the NRA that has paid lethal dividends.

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