"The passage of today's tough new gun laws is a victory for public safety in New York City.  It's about time that the legislature gave gun violence the top priority it deserves and passed gun legislation that will save lives and hopefully avoid tragedies like the ones we've seen over the past weeks. The murders of New York City Police Officers Dillon Stewart and Daniel Enchautegui are deadly reminders of the scourge of guns in the City.  By doing this, we make sure that those who commit gun crimes and crimes against law enforcement officers will be harshly punished. I want to thank Governor Pataki for his leadership on this issue and Assembly Speaker Silver and Senate Majority Leader Bruno for the swift passage of this legislation.

"It is important, however, that we not rest on our laurels.  We must close the loophole that allows criminals in possession of loaded unlawful firearms to avoid serving a single day in jail by working with our leaders in Albany to make the crime of illegal possession of a loaded firearm a 'C' felony punishable by a minimum of three and-a-half years in prison."