NY lawmakers want gun shops to post ‘graphic’ visual warnings about risks of firearms

Two Democratic state lawmakers from Manhattan want to force gun shop owners to display “graphic” posters about the risks associated with firearms — but Second Amendment proponents quickly fought back against the proposal. 

Assemblyman Keith Powers and state Sen. Erik Bottcher unveiled the plan Tuesday, announcing at a press conference that the legislation would require consumer warnings with striking images about the dangers of guns – similar to fliers that sound the alarm over smoking cigarettes in other nations.

A mockup of one possible sign shows a small white casket with pink flowers on top and a big teddy bear next to it. Another poster shows a small child reaching into a drawer containing a gun.

“If one person thinks twice and changes their mind at the counter because of seeing this picture, this law will be worth it,” Bottcher said at the state Capitol.

“It’s extremely dangerous to bring a gun into your home, especially when it’s not stored correctly,” he added.

The legislation builds on a law that requires text-only warning signs in gun shops that was passed by the state Legislature in 2025.

A message on top of the photo in the mock-up sign tells gun buyers that access to firearms increases the risk of suicide, death during a domestic dispute or unintentional deaths to children, household members and others.

It also includes a number for the national suicide prevention lifeline.

“When the stakes are life and death, firearm warnings shouldn’t be easy to ignore,” Powers said in a statement.

“Graphic displays help make the risks of firearms unmistakable – and is a public health approach to solving scourge of gun violence.”

The state Department of Health would ultimately design the posters. Gun shops that flout that law if it takes effect would be fined $5,000 for the first violation and $10,000 for every subsequent violation within a 12-month period.

The state legislation is similar to a city law passed last year requiring the 14 Big Apple stores to put up the alarming signage.

But gun-rights activists dismissed the proposal as another threat to the Second Amendment.

“It’s an election year. They can go back to their districts and say ‘this is what I did. I put this warning up and it’s going to save people. And it’s all bull,” Tom King, president of the New York Rifle and Pistol Association, told The Post.

“It’s not going to save anybody, it’s not going to do anything other than become a dust collector on the walls,” he added.

Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne, a Republican, argued Albany should worry about criminals who get their hands on weapons and not law-abiding New Yorkers.

“Just when you think Albany can’t come up with another way to trample on the Second Amendment, they prove you wrong,” the former state assemblyman said in a statement.

“Law-abiding gun owners in New York already face some of the toughest restrictions in the country, and now lawmakers want to slap graphic warning labels on them like they’re buying cigarettes. This isn’t about safety — it’s about stigmatizing responsible citizens exercising their constitutional rights.”