“Seemingly every day, we turn on our televisions or read the news and learn of yet another gun violence tragedy. It happens so often, it’s easy to become desensitized and lose sight of the lives being cut short and the families being fractured. What were once safe havens – schools, churches, malls and workplaces – no longer provide peace of mind from the rampant gun violence taking place in our neighborhoods and across the country.

“Suffolk County residents know all too well the pain gun violence can cause. Last year, I secured $100,000 in the state budget to fund a SNUG program in Wyandanch in an effort to curb the prevalence of gun violence in our neighborhoods. As SNUG does critical work on the ground, I’m fighting to do more in Albany. I passed a series of bills to keep guns out of the wrong hands and off our streets. The legislative package helps keep dangerous individuals from accessing guns, bans bump stocks and keeps guns away from our children (A.2689, A.2684, A.1715-A). It also ensures thorough background checks and creates a gun buyback program (A.2690, A.1213, A.2685). After years of fighting for tougher gun laws in the Assembly, we now have the backing of new Senate leadership that will finally make these measures law.

“It shouldn’t take yet another tragedy to spur us to act. Further gun safety legislation is long overdue and these measures are an important step forward.”