By Tom Precious
ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled his gun control legislation shortly before 9 tonight, and called on lawmakers to quickly pass it to avoid a run on assault weapon purchases. The bill will take effect immediately.
After the recent school shooting in Connecticut and murders of two firefighters outside Rochester on Christmas Eve, Cuomo said the issue of gun control "has jumped to the forefront.''
"The people of this state correctly said they want something done and they want something done now,'' Cuomo told reporters in the Capitol's Red Room.
"We don't need another tragedy to point out the problems in the system,'' he said.
But Cuomo held his event without any legislative leaders, leaving some to wonder if lawmakers will still act tonight as they have been saying throughout the day. "Until people vote you don't know what they're going to do,'' Cuomo said.
Cuomo defended the deal his administration negotiated with lawmakers over the past several weeks, and said it targets assault weapons and illegal gun use. "It has nothing to do with hunters and sportsmen and people who are legal gun owners and use their guns appropriately,'' Cuomo said.
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