SAFE Act Not Hurting Cuomo's Election Chances: Poll

The SAFE Act, which was predicted to be a hot campaign issue in the 2014 elections when it was passed last year, doesn’t appear to be drawing quite as much ire as some critics anticipated.

A Siena College poll released Monday shows that 50 percent of voters either lean toward or are strongly with Cuomo on the controversial gun-control law. Just 21 percent either lean toward or are strongly with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino’s stance on the issue. Another 15 percent said they were on the fence, while 14 percent didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion.

Upstate New Yorkers appear to be nearly split on the issue even though the region is where opposition against the law is strongest. In that part of the state, 33 percent identify with Cuomo while 34 percent identify with Astorino. New York City and suburban voters lean far more heavily toward Cuomo (64-12 in New York and 55-16 in the suburbs).

Astorino has called for a repeal of the legislation and introduction of an alternative law that would focus more on mental health.

Support seems to have leveled out a bit from March, the last time Siena asked voters about the SAFE Act.

The question posed at that time was: “Last year, the Governor and Legislature enacted what some have called the toughest gun control law in the country that was named the SAFE Act by Governor Cuomo. One year later, do you support or oppose the gun control law passed?” The responses to that questions were slightly more decisive. Sixty-three percent of voters supported the law and 32 percent were opposed, while upstate opposition was still 52-45.

More than a year after its passage, the issue is still drawing prominent figures into the debate. In April, business mogul Donald Trump, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino and Astorino addressed thousands at a rally against the law outside the state Capitol. More recently, Astorino chose Chemung County Sheriff Chris Moss, an outspoken critic of the law, to be his running mate.

But despite continued calls from groups of sitting legislators to repeal or amend the law, the law remains on the books and there is no sign that it will be on the docket during the final three marathon days, either. Thursday marks the final day of the session, and it’s not clear if even less controversial proposals, such as medical marijuana, will be brought up for a vote.