The website, established by the governor’s office, provides details about the New York Safe Act for gun owners and licensed dealers and features frequently asked questions and a list of weapons banned under the new law.

The site provides a list of questions and answers pertaining to assault weapons, magazines, antique guns and magazines, private sales, safe storage, dealers and crimes.

New York State also created a hotline for the public to call. The phone number is 1-888-LAW-GUNS and will be activated Jan. 21. The hotline will run during normal business hours Monday through Friday and will be staffed by state police.

Cuomo signed the bill into law Tuesday, the same day that the state legislature approved the measure.

The legislation calls for an immediate ban on assault weapons and all magazines that hold more than seven rounds.

Under the legislation, semi-automatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and one military-style feature will be considered assault weapons. The bill also considers semi-automatic shotguns with one military-style feature an assault weapon.

President Barack Obama, joined by Vice President Joe Biden, unveiled his long-awaited gun control proposals on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass his proposals Wednesday to curtail gun violence in the wake of the Newtown massacre, setting off what may be the fiercest fight of his presidency.

As expected, Obama called on lawmakers to restore the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as well as pass laws that would require background checks on all guns sales.

“We can’t put this off any longer,” Obama said while flanked by by Vice President Joe Biden and four children who addressed letters to the president shortly after 20 children and six adults were gunned down last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Obama conceded that no law can stop senseless acts of violence completely, and there’s no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy from occurring, but said he would use the power of his office to protect children from violence.

“If there’s ever one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, than we’ve got an obligation to try,” said the president, who also signed 23 executive orders on gun control.

Obama’s much-anticipated announcement came in the midst of a heated debate about guns in America that has erupted since the mass killings in Newtown and the theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. that claimed the lives of 12 moviegoers and injured more than 70 others.

Gun advocates have been vocal about protecting their Second Amendment rights, arguing that placing limitations on firearms does a disservice to responsible gun owners. Many have said bans on assault weapons won’t do much to put a stop to gun crime because handguns are used in the majority of those instances.

Some of the president’s proposals have the support of many Americans, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll on public support for gun policy. The poll found that 85 percent of Americans are in favor of background checks for private and gun show sales, 55 percent would approve of a ban on assault weapons and 54 percent favor a ban on high-capacity magazines.

The vice president, who said he spoke with more than 200 groups since creating the Newtown task force—including gun advocates, sportsmen and hunters, religious leaders and lawmakers—paid tribute to the families of the Sandy Hook killings and said he was inspired by their strength.

“I have no illusions about what we’re up against or how hard the task is in front of us,” he said. “But I also have never seen the nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook. The world has changed, and it’s demanding action.”

While laying out his proposals, Obama said America has a duty to protect innocent children from gun violence, even if mass slayings aren’t totally preventable.

“These are our kids,” he said. “This is what they’re thinking about. And so what we should be thinking about is our responsibility to care for them, and shield them from harm, and give them the tools they need to grow up and do everything that they’re capable of doing—not just to pursue their own dreams, but to help build this country.

“This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe,” he said. “This is how we will be judged. And their voices should compel us to change.”

Rep. Carolyn McCarty (D-Mineola), a staunch supporter for tighter gun laws, joined the president at the White House for the announcement and said his proposals will “save lives” while challenging Congress to take up the issue.

“Congress must not stand idly by while innocent Americans are killed on a daily basis for no reason,” she said.

Obama’s proposal came one day after New York State passed what many supporters of the bill hailed as the “most comprehensive” gun control legislation in the country. The state was the first in the nation to pass new gun control measures after the Newtown massacre.

The National Rifle Association balked at the proposals and said it will work with members Congress instead.

“Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation,” the nation’s largest gun lobby said in a statement after Obama’s announcement. “Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy.”

Obama acknowledged that it will be tough sledding to get the bill passed, adding that change will only come if Americans demand it.

“If parents and teachers, police officers and pastors, if hunters and sportsmen, if responsible gun owners, if Americans of every background stand up and say, enough; we’ve suffered too much pain and care too much about our children to allow this to continue—then change will come. That’s what it’s going to take,” he said.

President Obama’s gun control proposals. by

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces gun control bill after Assembly approved the legislation Tuesday.

New York on Tuesday became the first state in the nation to pass a gun control bill since the Newtown massacre one month ago, with supporters of the legislation haling it as the most comprehensive gun bill in the country.

The measure passed the Assembly 104-43 one day after the State Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill by a vote of 43 to 18.

“I am proud to be a New Yorker today,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo before huddling together with lawmakers and some members of law enforcement as he signed the bill into law just after 5 p.m. “I am proud to be part of this government not because New York has the first bill but because New York has the best bill.”

It may have not been a race but lawmakers in Albany have moved surprisingly swiftly to address the gun control issue since the massacre in Connecticut. The passage came less than a week after Cuomo’s State of the State in which he pushed the Legislature to “end the madness,” referring to recent shootings, including a fatal shooting on Christmas Eve in upstate New York that claimed the lives of two firefighters.

Cuomo, who hasn’t missed an opportunity to remind the public that he’s a gun owner himself—a Remington shotgun, in fact—said the bill isn’t about limiting American’s Second Amendment right but to protect the public from dangerous individuals, including those with mental illness.

“We saw, we learned, we responded and we acted,” Cuomo said Tuesday evening.

The legislation, dubbed NY Safe Act, calls for an immediate ban on assault weapons and makes New York the first state in the nation to ban all pre-1994 high-capacity magazines and any magazine that can hold more than seven rounds. (The previous limit was 10.)

High-capacity magazines that enable people to kill a large number of people in a short period of time are “nonsensical” for a civilized society, Cuomo said.

Under the legislation, semi-automatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and one military-style feature will be considered assault weapons. The bill also considers semi-automatic shotguns with one military-style feature an assault weapon.

Lawmakers also looked to limit the access of guns to the mentally ill by requiring therapists to report to local mental health officials when they believe a patient may cause serious harm to themselves or others. The law gives law enforcement the authority to remove the person’s firearm. The person’s license would also be suspended.

Background checks will also be expanded as a result of the bill.

“The old system made no sense,” Cuomo said.

Those who oppose the bill, including the National Rifle Association, criticized lawmakers for rushing the legislation and said it would infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

“These gun control schemes have failed in the past and will have no impact on public safety and crime. Sadly, the New York Legislature gave no consideration to that reality,” the NRA said in a statement. “While lawmakers could have taken a step toward strengthening mental health reporting and focusing on criminals, they opted for trampling the rights of law-abiding gun owners in New York, and they did it under a veil of secrecy in the dark of night.”

“The legislature caved to the political demands of a Governor and helped fuel his personal political aspirations,” the organization added.

Republican Assemb. James Tedisco (R-Schenectady) also blasted the legislature for pushing the bill through.

“A lot of people say, ‘Why do you need these guns?’” he said, according to The Associated Press. “It’s part of the freedoms and liberties we have. … It’s for our public safety. It’s to protect us from our own government.”

Approval of the legislation comes one day before President Barack Obama is expected to announce his own gun control plans, which were prepared by Vice President Joe Biden.

Obama had enlisted the vice president to head a panel to come up with “common sense” measures to prevent another massacre like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School one month ago when 20 children and six adults were killed by a madman wielding a semi-automatic weapon.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave his State of the State address in Albany on Wednesday.

The gun control debate got a shot in the arm this week when a school shooting broke out during a White House task force meeting on the issue the day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged New York to pass the nation’s toughest firearms regulations.

Proposed re-enactment of the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that expired in 2004 is at the forefront of the current debate. But pro-gun lobbyists shot down such regulations as an infringement of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Emotions continue to run high on both sides.

“There has got to be some common ground, to not solve every problem but diminish the probability” of future mass shootings, Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday. “That’s what this is all about.”

Biden was meeting with a group of hunting organizations when a 16-year-old armed with a shotgun critically wounded a fellow student in a California high school. The task force was formed after a gunman massacred 20 school children and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. last month.

The National Rifle Association, whose leader has proposed armed guards in every school—although in the latest case, the school’s armed guard was snowed in at home—characterized the meeting as “disappointing” and said it will work with Congress instead.

“No one hunts with an assault rifle,” Cuomo said Wednesday while unveiling his gun-control package. “No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer. And too many innocent people have died already. End the madness now!”

He proposed banning gun clips manufactured before 1994 that hold more than 10 bullets—hardware used by the Newtown gunman and other mass murderers—modernizing the pistol permitting process to ensure felons and others barred from owning handguns don’t fall through the cracks.

Cuomo also gave a nod to the NRA and conservatives such as state Senate Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who have suggested the gun control conversation falls short without addressing mental health and stricter punishments.

“There is no doubt that illegal guns are a major threat to public safety—but it is not the only one,” Skelos said after Cuomo laid out his plans in his State of the State address. “More frequently we are reading about crimes committed by people with a history of mental illness who may not be getting the treatment they need.”

The governor’s package includes enhanced sentencing guidelines for those convicted of using illegal guns, which mirrors a series of proposals Skelos unveiled last week. Cuomo also plans to propose measures to ensure mental health professionals alert authorities when they become aware a gun owner is likely to cause harm.

In addition, he also wants to close a loophole that allows private gun owners to sell guns to others without the buyer being subject to the background checks they would face when making a purchase from a licensed gun dealer.

On the federal level, New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are calling on Biden to include measures to crackdown on illegal guns and strengthen background checks into his final recommendations.

The senators are pushing bills mandating that states share records on felons, drug abusers and those seriously mentally ill to be used in background checks for gun buyers. They also are pushing a bill cracking down on trafficking firearms into New York.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) is also reintroducing her legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines for guns—a bill that is likely to be part of the Newtown task force’s recommendations Tuesday to President Obama.

McCarthy has devoted her political career to combating gun violence after her husband was murdered and son critically injured during the 1993 Long Island Railroad massacre. Rep. Diana Degette (D-Colo), whose district includes the infamous Columbine High School and is adjacent to Aurora—where a gunman murdered 12 people and wounded nearly 60 others at a movie theater last summer—is cosponsoring the legislation.

“These devices are used to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible and we owe it to innocent Americans everywhere to keep them out of the hands of dangerous people,” said McCarthy. “We don’t even allow hunters to use them—something’s deeply wrong if we’re protecting game more than we’re protecting innocent human beings.”