The Governor's Office said in 2016 firearms were used in 25 domestic homicides in New York State.

"If there is a gun in the hands of an abuser in a domestic violence relationship, the victim is five times more likely to be killed,” Family Justice Center Executive Director Mary Travers Murphy said.

Travers Murphy said access to a firearm is one of the biggest red flags the center tries to educate domestic violence victims and their loved ones about.

"Anytime a perpetrator is drinking and drugging and unemployed and has access to firearms and has threatened to kill the victim or her children or himself, those are cases that could go lethal just like that,” she said.

As part of his 2018 State of the State agenda, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing legislation that would require the mandatory surrender of firearms after all domestic violence convictions and whenever a judge issues an order of protection.

"Timing is everything,” Murphy said. “The climate is perfect and I know there are many agencies and advocates out there who will be going to Albany and lobbying lawmakers to pass this."

S.C.O.P.E. Chairman Emeritus Budd Schroeder said people who commit acts of domestic violence shouldn't have access to any weapons, but in this case, he believes the governor's proposal is unnecessary.

"There's a federal law that does exactly what he wants it to do, that any domestic violence misdemeanor makes them ineligible to possess a firearm. That's the Lautenberg Law. It's been on the books for decades,” Schroeder said.

On a conference call Wednesday, Cuomo said he’s proposing the legislation to close loopholes, specifically when it comes to misdemeanor offenses and regarding long guns.

Schroeder had another theory as to why he’s touting the plan.

"He's anti-gun,” Schroeder said. “He wants everybody to know it and even though it's not going to do any good as far as reducing the criminal misuse of firearms, he's going to do it anyway."

He said the governor should be reexamining the SAFE Act, rather than calling for new guns laws.