Connect with us

Breaking: Cuomo Signs NY Gun Control Bill — First In Nation Since Sandy Hook

Published

on

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo today at about 4:45 PM signed into law the first gun control bill since the Sandy Hook shooting, that took the lives of 20 children and six adults. Governor Cuomo, a Democrat whom some say is eyeing the White House, quickly after the Newtown, Connecticut massacre, promised to help pass and sign what he hoped would be the nation’s toughest gun control measure. The bill passed its final hurdle today, and the Governor signed it into law almost immediately.

Cuomo stated at a press conference (image, top) minutes ago that he moved quickly and signed the bill into law with little public debate because the bill bans the sale of semi-automatic weapons and he wanted to ensure there was not a rush of assault weapon sales prior to the bill becoming law.

“We’ve been working on this bill for weeks and weeks, and there were hundreds of conversations, ” the Governor said.

What resulted from Governor Cuomo’s actions is the SAFE Act,  a far-reaching bill “expands the state’s ban on assault weapons, puts limits on ammunition capacity and has new measures to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill people,” Reuters, via the Chicago Tribune, reported minutes ago:

The measure also mandates a life sentence without parole for anyone who murders a first responder. Just two weeks after the massacre in Connecticut, an arsonist gunman ambushed and killed two firefighters responding to a fire he had set near Rochester.

…

New York’s bill tightens the state’s existing assault weapons ban to include semiautomatic weapons with detachable clips that have one feature associated with military weapons. The current ban includes assault weapons that have two military-style features.

The proposal also limits magazine capacity to no more than seven cartridges – the current limit is 10 cartridges – and requires a statewide re-registration of all handguns and grandfathered assault weapons.

It also would require mental health professionals to report dangerous patients to county mental health officers for potential action and would add provisions to suspend or revoke licenses for people found to pose a danger to themselves or others.

“I believe it is the most comprehensive package in the nation,” Cuomo told reporters after the vote on Monday.

“Much of this is common sense. Unfortunately, common sense has eluded us for many, many years when it comes to this issue,” Cuomo said.

The proposal was not directed at and would have no impact on hunters or sport shooters, Cuomo said.

Last week, Cuomo said the current ban on assault weapons had so many loopholes that it was unenforceable. For example, current law bans magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, but exempts those made before 1994.

 

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Let That Sink in’: Suspending Habeas Corpus Is on the Table Says Stephen Miller

Published

2 days ago

on

May 9, 2025

By

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller says the White House is “actively” examining suspending habeas corpus, a constitutional protection that supports the right to due process. Critics, including legal experts, reacted strongly, with some noting that this right has only been suspended in the United States four times.

“Well, the Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land—that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller, the architect of Trump’s child and family separation policy during his first term, told reporters on Friday.

“So I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller declared, before attacking the judicial branch.

“Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

READ MORE: ‘Bystander’ Trump Keeps Saying ‘I Don’t Know’ — Critics Ask ‘Who’s in Charge?’

Habeas corpus is a cornerstone of Western democracies, with roots tracing back to the Magna Carta of 1215, which first established the principle that no person could be imprisoned arbitrarily by the king.

Miller, who has no law degree and is not an attorney, went on to give reporters his understanding of constitutional law.

“So,” Miller concluded, “it’s not just the courts aren’t just at war with the executive branch, the courts are at war with these radical judges, with the legislative branch as well, too,” he opined.

“So all of that will inform the choice of the president ultimately makes, yes.”

Critics blasted the extreme suggestion that President Donald Trump has the authority to suspend habeas corpus—Congress does—and that he would attempt to do so when there is no invasion or rebellion, prerequisites mandated by the Constitution.

“Habeas corpus has been suspended only 4 times,” wrote The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake. 1) Civil War 2) When Congress authorized it to combat Ku Klux Klan vigilantism during Reconstruction 3) In the Philippines during a 1905 insurrection 4) In Hawaii after Pearl Harbor.”

“The President lacks the power to suspend habeas corpus under Article II. That power is exclusive to Congress under Article I,” explained civil rights attorney Patrick Jaicomo.

READ MORE: ‘Barely Literate’: Education Secretary’s ‘Deranged’ Letter Gets Major Red Ink Corrections

“Too bad he never went to law school and doesn’t understand the law,” remarked Professor of Law Joyce Vance, the well-known MSNBC legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney.

“Suspending habeas corpus,” noted The Atlantic’s James Surowiecki, “would suspend the right for everyone, not just for undocumented people. So what Stephen Miller is saying here is that Trump is thinking about asserting the right to throw Americans in prison while giving them no opportunity to use the courts to get out.”

“The U.S. Constitution guarantees due process to everyone within the United States, not just citizens. They’re inventing a fake ‘invasion’ to call for an emergency and give themselves more power,” added political strategist Max Flugrath, Communications Director at Fair Fight Action.

“Don’t even think about it,” remarked U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA).

The well-known attorney George Conway, saying it “can’t be overstated,” called Miller “deeply, deeply disturbed.”

“Suspending habeas corpus. Let that sink in,” commented The Lincoln Project.

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison described Miller’s threatening remarks as “dictatorial b——.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Total Injustice’: Pope Leo XIV Likely to Weigh in on Trump-Era Policies, Brother Hints

 

Continue Reading

News

‘Scopes Just Went Black Again’: Air Traffic Controller Urges Pilot to Press for Fix

Published

2 days ago

on

May 9, 2025

By

New chilling audio of an apparently concerned and frustrated air traffic controller urging a pilot to get his company to apply pressure to fix the FAA’s technical issues was just released.

Over the past two weeks, air traffic controllers covering Newark Liberty International Airport have had to endure two separate system-wide outages that caused their radar scopes to go black and caused them to lose some communication with pilots, with the latest one occurring early Friday morning.

“FedEx 1989,” the unnamed air traffic controller can be heard saying (audio below), “our scopes just went black again.”

“If you care about this, contact your airline and try to get some pressure for them to fix this stuff,” the controller told the pilot.

READ MORE: ‘Bystander’ Trump Keeps Saying ‘I Don’t Know’ — Critics Ask ‘Who’s in Charge?’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday told reporters it was a “glitch in the system” that “was caused by the same telecoms and software issues that were raised last week.”

Insisting there was “no operational impact,” she said the “DOT and the FAA are working to address this technical issue tonight to prevent further outage.”

Leavitt did not specify what caused the glitch or how it could be fixed now.

On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said it would take months to fix the problem.

“It’s going to take a little time. I hope by the summer we’re going to be fully functioning,” Secretary Duffy said, CBS News reported.

MSNBC vice president Jesse Rodriguez called it a “Pretty extraordinary plea from an air traffic controller.”

READ MORE: ‘Total Injustice’: Pope Leo XIV Likely to Weigh in on Trump-Era Policies, Brother Hints

ABC News added that in “another transmission, a controller told an arriving private jet that the airport just had a brief radar outage and to stay at or above 3,000 feet in case the controllers couldn’t get in touch during the aircraft’s descent.”

The FAA in a statement on Friday said that there was a “telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace. The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds.”

CNN’s Pete Muntean posted the audio. Listen below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Barely Literate’: Education Secretary’s ‘Deranged’ Letter Gets Major Red Ink Corrections

 

Image via Reuters 

Continue Reading

News

‘Bystander’ Trump Keeps Saying ‘I Don’t Know’ — Critics Ask ‘Who’s in Charge?’

Published

2 days ago

on

May 9, 2025

By

President Donald Trump’s grasp of what’s happening on his watch is being debated, as the 78-year-old increasingly responds, “I don’t know” when asked basic questions.

Despite swearing—for the second time now—an oath to the U.S. Constitution, the President of the United States when asked if he is obligated to “uphold the Constitution” told NBC News’ Kristen Welker, “I don’t know.”

Trump, as The New York Times pointed out, offered the same answer when asked if everyone in the U.S. should be afforded due process rights—which are mandated by the Constitution.

READ MORE: ‘Total Injustice’: Pope Leo XIV Likely to Weigh in on Trump-Era Policies, Brother Hints

“I don’t know,” the President replied, twice. “I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”

VoteVets, a progressive political action committee (PAC), served up a scathing rebuke.

“He’s taken the oath twice—but now he’s not sure if due process matters. That’s not a gaffe. That’s a warning. Believe him. He’s telling you what he may burn down next,” the group posted on social media.

The nonpartisan advocacy group Patriotic Millionaires, which works to have wealthy Americans pay a larger portion in taxes and says “tax the rich” on its website, pointed to the President’s “I don’t know” response to upholding the Constitution.

“That is something that an authoritarian-dictator-wannabe would say, and we should absolutely take him at his word when he says this,” they wrote.

When Welker asked if he would run for a third term, Trump said he would not but admitted “I don’t know” if the Constitution prohibits it, but it’s “something you’re not allowed to do,” he said.

Back in April, Trump told reporters, “Many, many people come from the Congo. I don’t know what that is, but they came from the Congo.”

On Wednesday, in an Oval Office press gaggle, reporters asked, “Mr. President, is your administration sending migrants to Libya?”

“I don’t know,” Trump replied. “You’ll have to ask Homeland Security.”

Also on Wednesday, a reporter told Trump, “Your Treasury Secretary just told lawmakers that a tariff exemption for certain baby items like car seats is under consideration. Will you exempt some products that families rely on?”

“I don’t know,” was the President’s response, adding he will “think about it.”

READ MORE: ‘Barely Literate’: Education Secretary’s ‘Deranged’ Letter Gets Major Red Ink Corrections

Trump was also asked about U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) announcing he opposed Trump’s pick to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

“I didn’t know that,” the President told reporters.

Back in October, after his infamous “they’re eating the dogs” attack on immigrants, Trump went on Fox News and was told, “You said ‘they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats.’ That turned out not to be true.”

“I don’t know if it’s true or not,” the President quickly replied.

“You don’t know? It’s been debunked,’ the Fox News host declared.

“What about the goose, the geese? What about the geese? What happened there?” he was asked.

“I have no idea,” was the President’s reply.

The Atlantic’s James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds, back in March noted, “Trump also didn’t know that his administration had invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport Tren de Aragua members, even though he had supposedly signed the executive order invoking it. ‘I don’t know when it was signed, because I didn’t sign it,’ he said.”

And when SignalGate hit, Trump told reporters, “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. But I know nothing about it. You’re saying that they had what?”

Trump’s “I don’t know” remarks have become so frequent some have started to question why.

“Is somebody keeping a tracker of President ‘I don’t know’ Trump’s I don’t knows?” asked former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Juliette Kayyem. “It’s getting ridiculous. From Supreme Court decisions, to Libya prisons, to nominees, he has one answer. It’s not acceptable. He either isn’t in charge, is lying or has no capacity. I don’t know.”

It appears CNN has, at least in part, been keeping track.

On Thursday, Trump announced his new, highly-controversial Surgeon General nominee. Asked why he picked her, Trump replied, “Because Bobby thought she was fantastic,” but, “I don’t know her.”

MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen commented, “Yet another piece of evidence that Trump is a bystander to the actions of his administration.”

CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner remarked, “The president says he doesn’t know the new Surgeon General but he appointed her because ‘Bobby thought she was terrific’. Who’s in charge here?”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Maoist’ ‘Soviet’ ‘Communist’: As Trumpism 2.0 Takes Shape, Experts Endeavor to Define It

 

Image via Reuters

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.