Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics Democratic elected officials in New York, from district attorneys to Gov. Kathy Hochul, applauded President Joe Biden's federal rule change issued April 11, to eliminate hard-to-trace firearms that have been blamed on shootings statewide. The policy change would focus on guns that can be assembled using kits and are often difficult for law enforcement to track after the firearm is believed to have been used in a crime. “In New York, we have taken significant action to crack down on gun violence, taking more than 2,700 guns off our streets and shutting down websites that sell ghost guns...," said state Attorney General Letitia James. "But our efforts can only go so far if these untraceable weapons are not effectively regulated at the federal level." In February, Hochul's administration launched a multi-state task force, composed of local, state, and federal law enforcement officials, in an effort to stop the flow of illegal guns into New York. "No one should be able to circumvent the process to gain access to deadly weapons, especially those that take just 30 minutes to assemble and whose parts often cost less than $100," Hochul said. The governor's office last week announced more than 1,700 firearms have been taken off the streets as part of the task force's early efforts. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.