Glen Cove, New York – Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-North Shore) is expressing support for the Plainview-Old Bethpage Board of Education’s letter to Congressman George Santos requesting that he withdraw his proposal to have the AR-15 named the National Gun of the United States. 

In the letter sent last week, the Board tells Santos, “Your proposed legislation to make the AR-15 the National Gun promotes the very weapon which has been often used to cause death and destruction to our nation’s schools.”The Board added, “Co-sponsoring a bill that glorifies this semiautomatic rifle will only serve to glorify what has become the weapon of choice for mass shootings in schools, what should be a sacred place where students and educators feel safe.”

Assemblymember Lavine issued the following statement in response to the Board’s letter:

“I could not be more disgusted by Congressman Santos’ crude and shameful proposal and wholeheartedly support the POB Board of Education’s sentiments. We need to end gun violence, not promote it. The signing into law of the Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receiver Act, which bans the sale and possession of ghost guns which I sponsored in the Assembly, is one of the proudest moments of my career. The most recent mass shootings at a school in Nashville and a bank in Louisville are just the latest daily and deadly reminders of the ongoing need for strong but sensible gun legislation, something I will continue to fight for in the Assembly.”

“I thought we had decided to put an end to sacrificing the lives of our precious little children in the days of Abraham.”