New York Dems Now Targeting Flare Guns

Juveniles in New York are still getting their hands on guns, despite the state’s restrictive gun control laws. But increasingly, police are also seeing teens use flare guns with violent intent. 

Over the Independence Day weekend, a home in Albany, New York burned to the ground after it was struck by a flare fired during an altercation between two groups of teens and young adults. Now several Democrats in the state legislature are demanding new restrictions on the devces. 

One bill would make the sale and distribution of a flare gun to those under 21 a violation that is punishable by a fine of up to $500 for a first-time offender, while repeat offenders could face a misdemeanor charge. Sellers must verify that flare gun buyers are at least 21 years old through a photo identification check. 

The second bill would explicitly define a flare gun and add it to the list of weapons that could lead to a charge of “criminal possession of a weapon,” allowing law enforcement officers to charge people who use or possess them with the intent to harm someone. 

“Flare guns were never designed to be weapons, but they are now being weaponized and used to inflict destruction, panic, and pain within our communities, including right here in the Capital Region with the outrageous and unacceptable violence we saw over the Fourth of July weekend,” Fahy said in a statement.

Neither bill has been given an official marker in the state Legislature yet, and lawmakers are out of session for the summer. But the officials said the pair of bills would be a priority.

I’m honestly not sure if flare guns are considered “arms” under the Second Amendment, given that they’re not generally meant to be used as a tool for either offense or self-defense, but raising the age to purchase one to 21 raises the same issue that we’ve seen with other laws restricting access to actual firearms for under-21s. An 18-year-old is considered a legal adult in New York (and every other state), so why shouldn’t they be able to purchase one? 

The bigger issue is that teens in New York feel like they can commit criminal acts with impunity, because often they can. Thanks to the state’s “Raise the Age” law, 16- and 17-year-olds can’t be tried as adults, no matter how serious their offense. The state was supposed to deliver scads of cash to communities so they could implement social programs ostensibly designed to curb juvenile offenses, but the mayor of Albany says the state has been slow to deliver. 

“What’s frustrating to me as the Mayor of Albany, is that when Raise the Age was passed, tens of millions of dollars were made available to counties to engage young people who are now not going to be prosecuted as adults,” said Sheehan. “And in Albany County, instead of getting more programs we have less.”

According to a recent report from New York State Comptroller’s Office, $1.71 billion dollars was appropriated for state fiscal year 2025. $658.8 million has been dispersed.

Some Republicans argue that the problem isn’t a lack of funding, but a lack of accountability. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay wants to make it easier to keep some juveniles accused of serious crimes in adult court, telling News 10 in Albany that his intent is to ensure “these people get institutionalized which they need to be, or actually convicted and sent to jail.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says juvenile gun arrests have increased 136% since 2018, with the number of juveniles arrested for a shooting up by nearly 200%. The state has made it much more difficult for responsible adults to keep and bear arms over that same time period, but those laws aren’t touching teens who aren’t old enough to legally exercise their Second Amendment rights in the first place. 

The burned down home in Albany is glaring evidence that New York’s soft-handed approach to juvenile crime is woefully inadequate, but the Democrats in charge of the legislature are still trying to ban their way to safety instead of dealing with the individuals who are responsible for this violence. I don’t know what, if anything, would get them to acknowledge their mistake, but at the moment it looks like they’re doubling down their idiotic stance.