AG report: Most guns recovered in NY are sold out of state

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a report today that shows that most guns used in the state during crimes are coming from out of state. Schneiderman says the report looked at nearly

News 12 Staff

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Oct 26, 2016, 2:20 AM

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Updated 2,988 days ago

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a report today that shows that most guns used in the state during crimes are coming from out of state.

Schneiderman says the report looked at nearly 53,000 guns recovered by law enforcement. He says a majority come from the so-called "Iron Pipeline" of seven states with weak gun laws.

"The message is our laws in New York are working. The bad guys are not coming here to buy guns," says Schneiderman.

The report found that of the more than 4,800 recovered guns on Long Island, 73 percent were not sold in New York.

Hempstead and Uniondale had higher percentages of out-of-state recoveries.

Schneiderman says he's calling for the federal government to institute universal background checks for anyone who wants to buy a gun.

Uniondale gun shop owner Andrew Chernoff says that may be the answer to this growing problem.

"You can't expect the laws to be effective if it's only in one venue. If the law is in all of the venues then it could be effective," says Chernoff.

Schneiderman also wants gun trafficking to be made a federal crime, saying there is no comprehensive law for illegal trafficking.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says there was a gun trafficking bill that failed to pass three years ago, and she plans to reintroduce it in the next session.