The two bills Governor Pataki proposed in response to the recent slayings of two New York City police officers were criticized by the left and right yesterday.

One bill would resurrect the death penalty in New York State for murderers of police officers and increase penalties for other crimes committed against officers.

“On the road of gun safety, we can take a shortcut by making feel-good statements of reinstating the death penalty that sounds great on the presidential trail, but, on the substantive nature, it does nothing to address the issues of public safety,” a co-founder and spokesman of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, Eric Adams, said.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Pataki denied that there was a political motive behind the governor’s introduction of the bills.

The president of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Jackie Kuhls, and a noted civil rights attorney, Norman Siegel, joined Mr. Adams at a press conference.

Mr. Siegel said the death penalty was “a barbaric remnant of an uncivilized society.” He said he doubted increased penalties would deter criminals.

The activists also condemned the bill for applying only to police officers, not citizens in general.

“We’re all in this together. … The resolution must be something that is going to insure the safety of all New Yorkers regardless of their professional capacity,” Mr. Adams said.

Messrs. Siegel and Adams and Ms. Kuhls praised the governor’s illegal firearms bill for reducing the number of illegal firearms one must possess in order to be charged with a felony to three from 20. They criticized it for not including provisions contained in competing legislation introduced by the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver.

The Assembly bill would require legitimate gun dealers to lock away their weapons at night and train their employees to spot prohibited purchasers, among other proposed regulations.

Ms. Kuhls said that between 60% and 75% of guns used in crimes in upstate New York were originally bought within the state. The proposed regulations, she added, would prevent those guns from becoming available to criminals.

On the other side of the aisle, the president of the Shooters’ Committee on Political Education in New York, Kenneth Mathison, criticized the bill as an attempt to raise the cost of selling guns legally, leading legitimate dealers to raise their prices and thereby discourage consumers from buying firearms. The Shooters’ Committee is a nonprofit pro-gun advocacy group.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Silver, Sisa Moyo, said the bill was not “about placing onerous requirements on legitimate businesses” but rather assisting investigations of gun crimes.

Mr. Mathison denounced both Mr. Pataki’s and Mr. Silver’s bills for using the word “firearm,” which the governor’s 2000 gun law package expanded to include assault weapons, rather than “handgun.” Mr. Mathison said the term “assault weapon” was overly vague. Its use, he said, would lead to legitimate gun owners being arrested by local police officers confused by the law.

Ms. Moyo denied that the term was vague.