Buffalo, NY (WBEN/AP) Upon further review, the package of bills signed into law last week on gun reform has an oversight. The bill does not ban sales of the type of body armor used by the suspect in the Tops shootings last month.
During the May 14 attack, the suspect wore a steel-plated vest, an armor strong enough to stop a handgun round fired by a store security guard who tried to halt Gendron' s rampage. A law that one state senator says was hastily enacted by state lawmakers after the attack restricts sales of vests defined as “bullet-resistant soft body armor.”
State Senator George Borrello of Western New York says the package was a bunch of virtue signaling for political reasons. He calls the package shameless. "Not only does this have myriads of problems, but in the end they are likely going to be struck down, but they hope that they can at least make their way through the primaries," says Borrello. Borrello believes the package will not stand a constitutional test. He also fears this will create a false sense of security.
Borrello says amending the package is not the solution. He believes it's about getting tough on criminals. "We have to go back to doing what we did 30, 40 years ago. If you look at what's the difference between now we've seen seen a spike in violence, particularly in the last two years, is the fact that our government, both state and federal, is no longer willing to take dangerous people out of society," explains Borrello. He says the state has shut down institutions that that helped people that were dangerously mentally ill. Another issue: "We've got things like the three strikes rule after three consecutive violent felonies, you were going to prison for the rest of your life. And we decided we didn't want to have people in prison. So we're going to do that anymore," says Borrello.
Assemblymember Jonathon Jacobson, a lead sponsor of the legislation, told The Associated Press he would “be glad to amend the law to make it even stronger.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is also aware of the need for changes, her office said.
“Governor Hochul was proud to sign the groundbreaking new law passed by the legislature to restrict sales of body armor, and will work with the legislature to expand the definitions in the law at the first available opportunity,” it said.
Calls to area Democratic lawmakers were not returned.