As noted earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency for gun violence. Basically, he bought into the idea of “gun violence” as a public health issue and is treating it like COVID. Which is funny because the SAFE Act was supposed to prevent that, wasn’t it?

In case you forgot, the SAFE Act was enacted eight years ago and was supposedly the toughest gun control law in the nation.

However, just eight years ago, New York passed one of the toughest gun control measures in the nation that aimed to make the state safer. Those who opposed the legislation claimed it would only hurt law-abiding citizens. With the recent wave of crime and Cuomo’s emergency declaration, it appears the opposition was, to some extent, correct.

Cuomo passed the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act in 2013 to “give New York State the toughest gun laws in the nation.” The legislation banned magazines that can hold more than seven rounds and required an instant background check on all ammunition purchases at the time of sale. The seven-round limit was struck down but a 10-round limit remains in effect.

…

Authorities were given the ability to track ammunition purchases “in real time to alert law enforcement to high volume buys.” The legislation also created a mandatory background check and expanded the definition of an assault weapon, among other provisions.

“This new law will limit gun violence through common sense, reasonable reforms that will make New York a safer place to live,” Cuomo said. “When society confronts serious issues, it is the function of government to do something, and the NY SAFE Act will now give New York State the toughest, strongest protections against gun violence in the nation.”

Talk about comments not aging well.

Let’s be real here, if the SAFE Act was all that it was advertised to be, there’s no reason for a state of emergency, right? Unless, of course, Cuomo and company are ready to admit that there’s a lot more to crime than bad people getting guns and that the laws aren’t really going to stop that.

Of course, I’m pretty sure any attempt by him to say such a thing would result in internal bleeding.

Time and time again, states pass gun control laws and we keep telling them that it won’t work, that you don’t stop criminal activity by restricting the access to guns for law-abiding citizens, but they ignore us. They actually think we’re making this stuff up, so they just do what they wanted to do all along.

Then, when it fails, do they ever acknowledge that maybe they screwed up? Nope.

Instead, they double down and push for still more gun control or they call for states of emergencies. There’s no mea culpa from any of these people. After all, to admit to a mistake would be to acknowledge they’re less than perfect. Of course, the fact that Cuomo still hasn’t acknowledged his culpability in the deaths of thousands of New York’s elderly after he forced nursing h. omes to take COVID-positive patients suggests that he may not actually know how to take responsibility.

Either way, the current state of emergency in New York is all the evidence one should need to know that the SAFE Act failed to deliver on the promises proponents made.