Gov. Andrew Cuomo is asking 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to endorse the "Make America Safer Pledge."

According to the governor's office, Cuomo's four-point plan will keep Americans safe from gun violence.

In 2013, following the Newtown, Conn. school shooting massacre, Cuomo passed one nation's toughest gun-control laws, called the SAFE Act. The law keeps guns out of the hands of convicted felons and individuals with a mental illness, ensures private gun sales are subject to a background check, bans high-capacity magazines and assault weapons, and toughens criminal penalties for illegal gun use.

After the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio last weekend, Cuomo condemned President Trump and urged the U.S. Congress to follow New York's lead and pass significant gun safety measures.

"It is incumbent upon all Democrats to give the American people a clear alternative to President Trump on the issue of hate and guns and end this mass carnage that has become the status quo," Cuomo said.

Cuomo called on the Democratic presidential candidates to endorse the Make America Safer Pledge and support the following gun safety measures:

  • Outlaw assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
  • Create a mental health database to prevent the dangerously mentally ill from purchasing a firearm
  • Pass universal background checks closing the private gun sales loophole
  • Pass Red Flag legislation preventing individuals who pose a risk to themselves or others from purchasing a firearm

"New York State passed the laws six years ago and they have worked. No legal gun owners' rights have been violated but unnecessary, dangerous weapons are off the streets and dangerously mentally ill people cannot by guns. New York State is the laboratory, we provided the experiment. Now do it nationwide," Cuomo said.

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