Gov. Andrew Cuomo says that the politically-charged, revolving conversation about guns in America must be taken on, and also says New York state and its SAFE ACT can prove an effective example.

Since the Florida school shooting, Cuomo said there's been a refrain from gun advocates about addressing mental health.

"Yes, it's a mental health issue, but it's a person with mental health issues who has access to guns," emphasized Cuomo, D-New York, in an interview with Spectrum News.

Cuomo said the names of more than 77,000 New Yorkers are on a database, which began as part the gun control legislation, and those are people who mental health professionals said should not have a gun.

Cuomo also said that no one who can pass a background check and can legally buy a gun has been deprived.

The SAFE Act became the law in New York after the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut.