MELVILLE, N.Y. (AP) The father of a 7-year-old boy killed at the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, has praised New York's new gun control law at the state Democratic convention.

Mark Barden told Democrats Wednesday gun responsibility is a matter of public safety and shouldn't be caught up in politics.

Barden's son Daniel was among 20 students and six educators killed in the 2012 school massacre.

Gun control has become a contentious issue in New York following the passage of the SAFE Act, which bans the sale of some semi-automatic weapons and requires people who already own them to register with authorities.

The law was championed by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The law's repeal is supported by Cuomo's Republican opponent this fall, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.