A leading gun rights group says New Yorkers think of firearms as “killing machines’’ — a view quite different from much of the nation.
“A good number of Americans own guns and are comfortable with using guns and enjoy using guns. That certainly colors their political perspective,’’ Michael Hammond, legislative counsel of the Gun Owners of America,
told The Salt Lake Tribune.
“If you’re from New York City, where guns are banned, and you’ve never heard anything in your life other than guns are big, dirty, dangerous things that can only do harm or are killing machines . . . then I think you come at this from a different perspective.”
Hammond’s remarks came a month after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo enacted a sweeping package of gun-control laws — legislation he called “the most comprehensive package in the nation.”
The fast-track legislation angered many lawmakers, including Republican Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin, who commented that Hitler and Mussolini would have been proud of Cuomo’s actions. He later apologized.
Last week, a USA Today survey of Washington congressional members revealed a deep political and geographical divide as to which lawmakers actually own guns.
A total of 119 Republicans and 46 Democrats declared themselves as gun owners, the survey found.
Only 12 lawmakers from the Northeast, including Pennsylvania, said they own firearms, while 77 Southerners declared they do, according to the survey.
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