New York state Sen. George Borrello is calling Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s declaration of a gun violence disaster emergency as a “gross abuse of his executive authority and an attempt to politically capitalize on a problem that he helped create.”

Borrello’s comments came hours after Cuomo signed legislation Tuesday afternoon holding gun manufacturers liable for the harm their products cause and closing a loophole that allowed people with outstanding warrants for their arrest to purchase guns.

“Of all the challenges we face every day in New York, few are as difficult to bear as the scourge of gun violence plaguing our communities,” Cuomo said in announcing the law. “The only industry in the United States of America immune from lawsuits are the gun manufacturers, but we will not stand for that any longer. I am not only signing a new law that does away with this immunity, giving New York the ability to hold them accountable, but also closing the destructive Trump loophole which has allowed people with active warrants to purchase guns for far too long. Now, if you have an active warrant, you cannot buy a gun in the State of New York, period.”

Borrello, however, offered his disagreement in a news release later in the day.

“Here in New York state, we saw crime rates begin to skyrocket in January 2020, immediately after the horrific criminal justice ‘reforms’ he helped spearhead went into effect. Along with other pro-criminal policies, vilification of our dedicated men and women in law enforcement and efforts to defund police departments, it is no wonder that criminals have been emboldened.

“Today’s event was nothing more than a publicity stunt and a desperate attempt to remain relevant in a Democratic party that is now led by the radical left.

“The governor is right about one thing: we need real solutions and immediate action to stem this tide of violence he and his allies have unleashed on the state. However, unless and until we can separate political agendas from public safety, those efforts will be in vain.”

Under this new legislation signed by the governor, gun manufacturers cannot endanger the safety and health of the public through the sale, manufacturing, importing or marketing of the products they sell. The products can be considered a public nuisance even if the gun manufacturer did not purposely cause harm to the public. The Attorney General and any city corporation counsel can take action on behalf of any locality, as can members of the public, corporations and associations.

Since 2005, a federal law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act has shielded bad actor gun manufacturers and dealers from most lawsuits. No other industry has this protection from liability for their products and practices, which has created a perfect storm of lax controls and inability to hold bad actors to account. This legislation will allow for a lawsuit to be brought in cases where reasonable controls and procedures are not in place, ensuring that responsible manufacturers and dealers will not be held accountable for the actions of criminal actors.

The second bill prohibits the sale, purchase or transfer of firearms to anyone known to have an outstanding warrant for a felony or serious offense. It prohibits the buying, selling and gifting of guns if the buyer is known to have a warrant for a felony or serious offense. This bill was proposed as part of the 2021 State of the State.

In early 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice reinterpreted a gun purchase prohibitor of the National Instant Background Check System to include only those individuals who have fled from one state to another for the purpose of evading prosecution for a crime while subject to an active or imminent arrest warrant versus those subject to any arrest warrant. Under Cuomo, the state addressed the issue by prohibiting any person who is subject to an outstanding arrest warrant for a felony or serious misdemeanor from being issued or maintaining a firearms license, which is necessary to purchase a pistol or revolver.

The legislation builds on that action, allowing these types of arrest warrants to once again be entered into the NICS database as a state-specific prohibitor, whether the individual has fled New York state or not, ensuring that those individuals wanted in New York for a serious crime cannot acquire new guns.