As missed warning signs pile up in mass killings, New York state is rolling out a novel strategy to screen applicants for gun permits People who want to carry concealed handguns will have to give over their social media accounts for a review.
It's an approach applauded by many Democrats and national gun control advocacy groups, but some experts have raised questions about how the law will be enforced
Some of the local officials who will be tasked with reviewing the social media content are wondering if they have the resources and if the law is constitutional.
Peter Kehoe is the executive director of the New York Sheriffs' Association. He doesn't think local officials will look at a person's social media accounts if they apply.
Kehoe doesn't think we would do that. It would be a violation of privacy.
After the Supreme Court ruled that most people have a right to carry a handgun for personal protection, a new requirement was added to the law. Kathy Hochul is a Democrat and she signed it.
The shooter who killed 19 children and two teachers at an Uvalde, Texas elementary school is one of the young men who have gone online to hint at what will happen.
The law requires applicants to give a list of their current and former social media accounts. It doesn't say if applicants will have to give access to private accounts.
It will be up to the local sheriff's staff, judges or county clerks to scroll through those profiles to make sure applicants have not made statements that would suggest dangerous behavior.
The law requires applicants to have hours of safety training, be proficient at shooting, have four character references, and sit for in-person interviews.
The Supreme Court ruling shifted responsibility for vetting people who carry firearms in public to the states.
Her group said it was unaware of any other states that required gun permit applicants to submit social media profiles.
There is debate over the policing of social media posts and a legacy of unwarranted surveillance of Black and brown communities.
The University of Pennsylvania social policy, communications and medicine professor, who also founded SAFElab, asked if we could do this in an anti-racist way that wouldn't create another set of violence.
Gun rights advocates are not happy with the law.
New York wants to thoroughly investigate you to figure out if you are one of the dangerous law-abiding citizens who are taking the country by storm and causing crime to spike. What have we done?
Hochul didn't respond to a list of questions about how the state will address free speech and privacy concerns when it comes to social media.
The sticking point is how to enforce this. James Densley is a professor at Metro State University. It opens up a can of worms because no one knows the best way to do it.
He said that decoding social media posts by younger people can be difficult.
What extent this is expression and what extent is this evidence of wrongdoing will be difficult to determine. The person said that.
People for the social media platforms didn't reply to requests for comment.
The job in New York should be given to a group of trained people who are tasked with figuring out how to best reach out to people who are showing signs of radicalization.
There are lots of issues. The way we communicate could be misinterpreted. We don't have the right people or the right tools in place to prevent violence, that's worrying.
Adam Scott Wandt, a public policy professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is worried that the New York law could set a precedent for mandatory disclosure of social media activity for people seeking other types of licenses from the state.
New York's law is vague and rushed, which is why I teach law enforcement how to conduct searches on people through social media.
We may have confirmed their worst fears, that a slippery slope will be created that will slowly reduce their rights to carry guns and allow a bureaucracy to decide who can have a gun. The Supreme Court was attempting to avoid that.
That's right.
Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press. Report for America places journalists in local newsrooms to report on issues that aren't covered. Maysoon Khan has a verified account on the social networking site.
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