Hannity Debate: New York Senators Spar Over Gun Control Bill
Democratic New York State Senator Michael Gianaris and Republican NY State Sen. Greg Ball went head-to-head over the new gun control legislation signed into law today by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Part of that law caps the amount of bullets in ammunition magazines at seven.
Sen. Gianaris maintained that the tightened law is trying to make it harder for criminals to commit massacres. Sen. Ball on the other hand said, “[New York] is making it as difficult as possible to protect your family. And it may be inconvenient to this governor and his political future, but there is a Second Amendment.”
Sean Hannity asked, “You tell me how this law makes it safer for
a stay-at-home mom, or maybe a woman that lives alone after a divorce that has a restraining order against a crazy ex-husband or boyfriend -- how does that make them safer?
Sen. Gianaris answered that it makes it harder for the person wanting to commit a crime to take action. Hannity lashed back, “You got to be on drugs, with all due respect. […] If you’re thinking that the criminals are going to obey the laws, you’re not thinking straight.”
“We’re not saying criminals aren’t going to commit crimes,” the Democratic senator said, “We’re saying we’re going to make it as difficult as possible for those criminals to exert the maximum amount of pain and death possible.”
Hannity responded, “The next time they’re going to wrap eight guns, pistols, with ten shots each and then you guys are going to come back and say ‘well, we took a first step but now we’re going to ban pistols.’”
When it comes to addressing mental health issues, Sen. Ball says, “We have a mental health system that treats these people like numbers. It’s a kangaroo system. […] We haven’t done a damn thing to solve that situation.”
Senators Ball and Gianaris began arguing over whether Gov. Cuomo wants to confiscate guns. Sen. Ball said to Sen. Gianiaris, “You may be on drugs if you don’t think that Cuomo wants to confiscate.” He added, “And Gov. Cuomo’s staff will have more than seven bullets, I promise you that.”
