An overwhelming 92% of registered voters said in a new Siena College poll that crime is either a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem in the Empire State — while large majorities favor new state laws restricting semi-automatic rifles and bullet-proof vests.
“Four years ago, marking the fifth anniversary of New York’s Safe Act – at the time, one of the strictest gun control measures in the nation – voters supported the Safe Act by a wide 61-28% margin. Now, support for needing both a permit for acquiring a semi-automatic weapon and a license for carrying a concealed weapon is even higher – across the ideological spectrum,” said pollster Steven Greenberg.
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed into law a package of gun control bills passed by Albany Democrats in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas.
The poll also reveals that large majorities oppose upcoming Supreme Court decisions that will likely strike down the federal right to an abortion alongside a century-old state law on carrying concealed weapons.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new package of gun control laws in the wake of the Buffalo supermarket shooting. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Pollster Steven Greenberg says New Yorkers now heavily favor permits for semi-automatic weapons and licenses to carry concealed weapons in the Empire State. AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File
Former mayor Rudy Giuliani and GOP gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani have blasted Democrats for soft-on-crime policies in the Big Apple. EPA/JUSTIN LANERoughly a third of respondents, 36%, said a controversial bill to impose a two-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining at old fossil fuel plants would be good for the state.
A slight majority, 51%, said the state was heading in the wrong direction overall while two-thirds – 68% – said the same about the country as a whole.
