The package is designed to combat the situation, in which dealers in states with lax gun laws sell their wares to intermediaries who bring it to the local black market.

The new laws prohibit the sale of more than one weapon to the same person and increase to 25,000 dollars the fine for possessing an assault rifle.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg sais in a statement the package "will help prevent dangerous weapons from being used on our citizens."

"By raising the penalties for individuals possessing illegal assault weapons, making it harder for people to purchase rifles and shotguns, and making it easier to hold accountable gun dealers and manufacturers who allow guns to fall into the wrong hands, New York City is leading the way in developing innovative ways to eradicate gun violence," the mayor said.

As many as 566 people were murdered in New York last year, most of them with a firearm.

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