Short on ammo: N.Y. gun controls.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings

AFTER THE December 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, many politicians clamored for more gun control, but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) was quicker than the rest. Cuomo pushed new restrictions through the state legislature so fast that many of the people who voted for the bill--which he signed into law on the second full day of the 2013 legislative session-did not have a chance to read it.

It showed. In addition to expanding New York's "assault weapon" ban, the law reduced the state's limit on magazine capacity from IO rounds to seven. As the governor explained in his State of the State address, "Nobody needs 10 bullets to kill a deer." But legislators neglected to include the standard exemption for current and former police officers, who complained bitterly about the lack of a double standard.

"As a law enforcement officer for over 20 years," said Norman Seabrook, president of the New York City Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, "I understand the importance of instituting a new policy on mandating the limits of bullets that a regular citizen can possess. But as a matter of fact the bad guys...