Bills that would require renewals of handgun permits and a system to tag and track spent shell casings have touched off the first gun-control battle in years at New York‘s Capitol.

The Democrat-controlled Assembly approved both measures this week. And they face a better chance at becoming law now that the Senate also is controlled by Democrats.

In the Capitol, students rallying in support of the measures Wednesday were mostly minorities from the New York City area. Many of the opponents lobbying lawmakers were middle-aged white men from upstate and wore National Rifle Association caps.

At issue are two proposals. One would require New York handgun licenses _ which currently are issued for a lifetime _ to be renewed every five years. The second would require semiautomatic handguns sold or made in New York state to be configured to “microstamp” identifying information on shell casings.

Christine Arroyo, 17, from Brooklyn told the indoor rally that a friend of hers was shot three times over the weekend. “The next thing you know he’s dead.”

Arroyo urged passage of the bills and asked others in the group of more than 200 who were from New York City, Westchester, Long Island and Niagara Falls to stand if they knew someone who had been shot. About three-fourths did. In her case it was 16-year-old Tashon Joseph Lee, who was fatally shot at an early morning fight last weekend at a Brooklyn housing project, she said.

“Upstate New York is a different world from downstate,” said Nick Capogreco, 53, as he watched the rally. The Baldwinsville father of four had ridden a bus from Syracuse with other NRA members to lobby against the bills. He said there are already enough gun restrictions, including requirements not to show your licensed handgun in public, to show your permit when you buy ammunition and computerized federal background checks when you buy any firearm.

Capogreco said the proposed re-licensing appeared to be “a money grab” by the state, that ammunition is already expensive, and microstamping and other proposals would drive costs up further. “No one wants violence with guns,” he said.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whose chamber passed mandatory re-licensing 87-58 and microstamping 94-47 on Tuesday, told the rally it was part of a package of “intelligent gun legislation.” He called it “insane” to just sit back and accept gun violence like the Columbine school massacre 10 years ago and the killing of 13 people in Binghamton earlier this month.

New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties already require handgun permit renewals every three to five years. Microstamping legislation died last year in the Senate, then controlled by a Republican majority.

“So many upstate districts on both sides of the aisle are wary of the export of New York City-style gun control,” said NRA lobbyist Gregory Costa. He predicted it won’t pass.

However, Sen. Eric Schneiderman, a deputy leader of the Senate’s new 32-30 Democratic majority, said with the lobbying support Wednesday they would gain more support and get it to Gov. David Paterson for his signature. It would affect new guns sold or made in New York starting in 2011.

“I think we should be able to pass this before the end of session,” Schneiderman said. California has passed a similar law, scheduled to take effect next year, he said.

The New York City lawmaker said he was hopeful about getting handgun re-licensing passed.

Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, a Long Island Democrat, said microstamping passed the Assembly with the bipartisan support of several downstate Republicans. She said the cost of pre-assembly laser engraving on the firing pins and breech faces of semiautomatic pistols would range from 50 cents to $3 each. The legislation guarantees the cost won’t exceed $12.

Schimel and Schneiderman advocated for the measure while surrounded by police officers and prosecutors who said it would help them solve cases by matching shell casings at crime scenes to guns. Microstamping would not affect revolvers, which retain cartridge casings while semiautomatics eject them.

“The technology does not work,” said Jake McGuigan, of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. He cited a study from the University of California at Davis that found microstamping is accurate only 54 percent of the time. “We support further research and further study.”

Similar legislation has been defeated in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia, McGuigan said. Other issues include problems for owners in returning unmarked guns for dealer buybacks, since the dealers would no longer be able to sell them. Also, revolvers would become the likelier choice of criminals, he said.

Andy Pelosi, president of Protecting Families from Gun Violence, said semiautomatics currently are far more likely to be used in crimes _ by a ratio of about 2-to-1.

Source: AP