Gov. Kathy Hochul: Red-flag gun laws get $4.6M funding boost

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced the release of $4.6 million in state funding to hire more lawyers to bolster red flag laws that allow courts to take firearms away from individuals deemed dangerous.

Hochul said she was expanding use of the red flag law by committing the new money to hire more lawyers in the regional offices of the state Attorney General's Office to defend "extreme risk orders" sought by state and local police to seize firearms of suspects.

Hochul said her announcement Monday wasn't a response to criticism of her crime policies by her Republican opponent, Rep. Lee Zeldin of Shirley.

Zeldin has tried to make crime a top issue in the campaign, in part through use in television spots of stark images of violence taken from security cameras.

Recent polls have shown Zeldin narrowing his deficit with Hochul, and have identified crime as a top priority of voters.

“I know it’s the political season, but I assure you I have been doing this long before I was the nominee for governor,” Hochul told reporters Monday.

“It’s been my priority, not a new development,” she said. “Real progress has been made.”

Zeldin called Hochul’s announcement a “dollar-short plan” because polls show her losing ground to him.

“I’ve stood at crime scenes countless times, demanding action to keep New Yorkers safe, demanding the governor call a special session to overhaul cashless bail and other pro-criminal laws, declare a crime emergency, remove DA's who refuse to enforce the law, back the blue, and much more,” Zeldin said in a statement to Newsday.

Zeldin said as governor, he would declare a "crime emergency" and use executive orders to suspend laws that eliminate cash bail for most nonviolent felonies and ease parole restrictions until the State Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, acts to repeal or alter them.

“I want to force them to the table to work with New Yorkers who are demanding that they get to the table and actually fix this,” Zeldin said.

Hochul said she has backed measures to provide more authority to judges to set bail on gun crimes.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School said in a study released in March that, “no direct evidence has emerged linking bail reform to rising crime.”

Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, who attended Monday's news conference, also is under attack over the crime issue by her election opponent, Republican Michael Henry.

Citing unspecified news reports of violent crimes, Henry told Newsday in a statement Monday that James, “has allowed violent and repeat offenders with illegal guns to go back out onto our streets.

James said Monday her office has helped State Police and local police obtain 2,000 orders of protection under the red flag law since May, when Hochul and the State Legislature required police to seek temporary orders upon request.

Until then, State Police had the option of whether to pursue extreme risk orders under the red flag law.

The strengthened state red flag law allows police to seek temporary orders to seize firearms from certain individuals' homes.

Those orders then go before a court where police, represented by lawyers from the Attorney General's Office, must prove the individual is a danger to himself, herself or others.

The orders often are requested or supported by relatives of the person, but also can be sought by teachers and school administrators, physicians and mental health professionals.

“We know the laws work; we know we can save lives,” James said. “Lives are at stake every single day. We will continue to take decisive action to combat this crisis.”

During the Republican gubernatorial primary in August, a video was leaked to Spectrum News in which Zeldin was shown telling supporters: “We should not have red flag laws that could be targeting law-abiding gun owners.”

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.