By Tom Precious
ALBANY – The gun control legislation under consideration tonight at the Capitol is being sponsored by two lawmakers who are, to be kind, not the best of friends.
The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Jeff Klein, the chamber’s new co-leader, and longtime Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Klein, a Bronx Democrat, and Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, were once friends, but had a falling out – there are different versions why – some years back.
In the Assembly, the gun control is bill number A2388, not A1 – a number reserved at the beginning of each legislative session for priority bills – as Gov. Andrew Cuomo had believed.
The Senate began taking up debate on the bill, which will pass the chamber, shortly before 11 tonight. It is uncertain when the Assembly might vote on the bill; Assembly Democrats have pressed for stronger gun laws for years, so passage there is a guarantee.
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