With Gun Act, Cuomo Alienates Upstate New York Constituency – In large stretches of upstate New York, it is the reason Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is deeply unpopular. To many voters in New York City and its suburbs, it is one of his crowning achievements. Mr. Cuomo made New York the first state to pass a broad package of new gun laws after the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. Seizing a singular political moment, he called it the Safe Act, and he implored Congress to follow his lead. Nearly two years later, as he seeks a second term, Mr. Cuomo presents the act to his supporters as one of his greatest successes, and Democrats are assailing the governor’s Republican challenger, Rob Astorino, for being lax on guns. It remains one of the most far-reaching pieces of gun-control legislation passed in response to the Newtown shooting.