Michelle Malkin | Gov. Cuomo: Our gun law only permitted something that doesn’t exist, so we’re going to kind of pretend it does anyway «

Gov. Cuomo: Our gun law only permitted something that doesn’t exist, so we’re going to kind of pretend it does anyway

By Doug Powers • March 21, 2013 03:37 PM

**Written by Doug Powers

In late January New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new, hastily constructed gun control bill. Naturally, oversights have been discovered, and those who passed the law also apparently didn’t want to bias themselves by actually learning about the subject they were legislating before voting on it:

In January Gov. Andrew Cuomo managed to pass one of the strictest gun control laws in the country, but now he’s making it somewhat less restrictive. While law, which goes into effect on April 15, would have banned the sale of magazines that hold more than seven rounds of ammunition, the governor announced on Wednesday that he’s working with legislators to make purchasing 10-round magazines legal in New York. “There is no such thing as a seven-bullet magazine,” Cuomo explained. “That doesn’t exist. So you really have no practical option.”

That one paragraph demonstrates why Cuomo should now be the last person to continue recommending “practical options,” but of course he didn’t see it that way. So what’s the fix? “New York gun owners, please pretend your ten bullet magazine only holds seven bullets”:

Cuomo downplayed the revision, saying it merely addresses a few “ambiguities” and “grammatical errors.” The law passed in January includes an exemption for the use of 10-round magazines at firing ranges and in competitions, but buying the magazines is banned. The new language will allow 10-round magazines to continue to be sold in New York, but it will be illegal to load more than seven rounds into those magazines.

And if this doesn’t work out, Cuomo may add a “Fife provision” to the law. Gun owners would still be required to load no more than seven bullets into their ten bullet magazines but they could apply for a separate permit to carry the other three bullets in their shirt pockets.

Somewhere a lightbulb just went off over Michael Bloomberg’s head to make his proposal “less restrictive”: You can have your 24 ounce cup — you just can’t put more than 16 ounces of soda in it.

Note: Jacob Sullum at Reason.com points out that seven round magazines do in fact exist, but they’re not standard.