By: HAILEY COGNETTI
On Thursday, September 12, Manhattan Council Member Erik Bottcher (CD3) proposed a bill that would require gun stores to provide graphic imagery, for example a child discovering a gun, to convey the dangers of owning a gun to buyers.
Outside the steps of City Hall Bottcher, was joined by other council members, March For Our Lives Co-Founder Cameron Kasky, Gays Against Guns, 100 Suits for 100 Men, Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. and other gun safety advocates. The news conference proposed a bill Int. No. 1016 that would require 14 licensed gun stores in NYC to display gun safety signs that have graphic imagery and text, with the ultimate goal of educating gun buyers about the dangers of gun violence. According to The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, it would design the graphic images and any rules for posting them.
There are currently no warning signs in New York City gun stores that display the dangers of gun violence. The bill proposed by Bottcher would mean that firearm sellers have to prominently display signs, featuring vivid and often unsettling imagery of the potential consequences of owning a gun, as well as text explaining the increased risks of gun ownership.
Inspired by international cigarette graphic warning labels, Bottcher said this bill could make historical legislation and a difference in addressing gun violence. Bottcher pointed to a recent ruling by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which confirmed that graphic images on cigarette packaging do not violate the First Amendment. If graphic warning labels on cigarettes are legally permissible to inform the public about health risks, the same should apply to gun stores displaying graphic imagery to educate buyers.
“Many, if not most of the purchasers of these guns, are not aware that guns kept in a home are significantly more likely to injure or likely to kill someone in their home, rather than being used as self defense,” Bottcher told the press conference.
If this legislation is passed, New York will be the first state to mandate these graphic visuals, which will make the dangers of firearms more visceral for potential buyers. Bottcher and his supporters say they believe this approach could influence a statewide movement that would encourage other states to confront gun violence as a public health crisis through similar graphic imagery and safety warnings.
The measure is not yet scheduled for a vote, but it is co-sponsored by 8 council members.