In the wake of a deadly mass shooting in Manhattan that left four people dead, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing for a nationwide ban on so-called “assault weapons,” arguing that such a measure is critical to preventing future tragedies.

And New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, is following suit.

The shooting, carried out Monday by a 27-year-old man wielding an AR-platform rifle, has reignited a fierce debate over gun control in a state already known for its stringent firearms laws.

Hochul, appearing Tuesday on CNN’s "Inside Politics," described the attack as a devastating blow to New Yorkers’ sense of security.

"I’m sitting in Midtown right now. My office is just a few blocks away and walking in this morning, and you see the security guards down there and everyone is just wondering, you know, is this a one-off? Could this happen again? I mean, that sense of security is shattered when someone comes from another state carrying an assault weapon designed only for battlefields, but using it, intending to use that to commit mayhem and mass murder in our cities," Hochul said. "This is happening because there are still assault weapons in our country."

Hochul emphasized New York’s low gun homicide rate among large states, attributing it to the state’s tough gun laws.

"If every state had the same laws uniformly, you could not have a situation where we fight really hard in the state of New York to make sure that we have the toughest gun laws in the nation. We have the lowest of all the large states homicide rate by guns. New York City, New York State, has the lowest homicide rate by guns in the nation for large states, and that’s because of laws that are working. We want that same sense of urgency to go out across the nation," she said.

Referencing the federal assault weapons ban in place from 1994 to 2004, Hochul added, "We had an assault weapons ban in our country for 10 years. It worked successfully. It lapsed under President Bush, and I say bring that back."

Hochul’s push for stricter gun laws comes amid lingering controversy over her past policies.

During the manufactured COVID-19 pandemic, Hochul mandated vaccine passports for New Yorkers, requiring proof of at least four COVID-19 vaccinations for residents to maintain employment, attend school, or enter businesses.

The policy, widely criticized as heavy-handed, totalitarian, sparked backlash from those who argued it infringed on personal freedoms and coerced citizens into receiving vaccines they deemed unnecessary or potentially harmful.

On Wednesday, during an appearance on Fox 5 New York’s "Good Day New York," Hochul doubled down on her gun control stance, highlighting the destructive capacity of the weapon used in the attack.

"If it wasn’t for that weapon, it would not have happened. Or even not being an assault weapon, if it was just a handgun, you can’t spray a handgun. An assault weapon, you can have a high-capacity magazine that can do 30 rounds. That’s 30 people’s lives that are destroyed in seconds. That’s what has to stop," she said.

Hochul also noted the shooter’s ability to overpower security, stating, "To hire an off-duty NYPD officer, that’s the best you’re going to get. They know how to handle this. But what happens when someone walks in and kills that individual immediately? The system is not going to work the way it was intended to, because the people that you hired to protect the people in the building are gone. That’s the reality."

Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and New York City mayoral candidate, echoed Hochul’s call for a national assault weapons ban, framing it as part of a broader push for stronger gun laws.

"A vision of stronger gun laws," Mamdani said, includes "a national ban against 'assault rifles.'"

He vowed that, if elected, he would "lead calls" to enact such a ban nationwide.

Mamdani’s stance aligns with his previous advocacy for sweeping gun control measures.

"We need to ban all guns," he posted on X on May 24, 2022.

However, Hochul’s claims have drawn scrutiny.

During her CNN appearance, she suggested the shooter’s concealed carry permit allowed him to possess the AR-15 used in the attack.

"Having a concealed carry permit centers on the carrying of handguns for self-defense, not rifles," according to firearms law experts.

Moreover, New York does not recognize concealed carry permits from other states, per the United States Concealed Carry Association.

The shooter, who reportedly drove across the country to New York, would have been subject to the state’s ban on "assault weapons," a category Democrats use to describe certain semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15.

New York’s gun laws, ranked fourth-strictest in the nation by Everytown for Gun Safety, include a prohibition on "assault weapons." Yet the Manhattan attack exposed gaps in enforcement or compliance, as the shooter was able to bring such a weapon into the state.

Hochul’s push for a national ban ignores the failure of existing state laws to prevent the tragedy. New York’s strict gun laws didn’t stop an AR-15 from ending four lives.

But can a leader who once demanded vaccine passports and multiple COVID shots for New Yorkers to keep their jobs and freedoms be trusted to balance public safety and personal rights?