An NRA-backed lawsuit against New York officials seeks to gut much of the SAFE Act, a package of gun control laws enacted earlier this year. Specifically, the lawsuit asks a judge to invalidate the assault weapons ban and the ban on high-capacity magazines.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of several plaintiffs, including Beikirch Ammunition Corporation — an East Rochester gun shop — and state Assembly member Bill Nojay, who filings say owns “AR-type firearms.” The law includes a provision banning assault weapons, which it defines as semi-automatic pistols and rifles that take detachable magazines and have one military style feature, like a flash suppressor or pistol grip. AR-15 style rifles fall under the ban, though the law allows current owners keep their firearms if they get a permit.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York and challenges provisions of the SAFE Act on constitutional grounds. The first sentence of the filing explains:
“This is an action to vindicate the right of the people of the State of New York to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits infringement of the right of law-abiding citizens to keep commonly-possessed firearms in the home for defense of self and family and for other lawful purposes.”
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2013.
Now it comes to light that Cuomo’s plan for enforcing his new gun law is a snitch-based system. Prior to his new gun law he had implemented a program that if you turn in a suspected owner of of an illegal gun you could get a reward of $500. Presumably meant to address the problem of illegal handguns in urban areas, it was tailor-made to help track down all the owners of firearms that magically became illegal (along with their owners) with the passage of Cuomo’s gun law. So much for trusting an honor system where law-biding gun owners had to register or dispose of guns that the state banned (like only putting 7 rounds in a 10 round magazine). This is reminiscent of the former East German Stasi police state. Nothing has been said of potential misuse of the snitch law; what protections a falsely-accused individual has, whether search warrants are needed to investigate claims or if records of the accused could be made public. I smell legal challenges coming – and rightly so.
Bart – Actually, this program you’re so concerned about was rolled out about a year ago. Must be Cuomo was conspiring to take away your Second Amendment rights even then !
And as to that nasty snitching…
Since 2001 Palm Beach, FL has been paying a $100 bounty for reporting a drunk driver who is subsequently arrested and convicted.
Crime Stoppers has been paying out cash for years to citizens who report verified criminal activity.
Many police departments and civic organizations have offered rewards over the years for information leading to conviction of specific crimes.
But NY”s reward program for detecting and arresting firearm criminals, the very people the so-called law-abiding gun owners are always complaining about, is suddenly a police state tactic.
Go figure.
52 of 62 counties have either passed or have pending resolutions opposing the UN”safe” act. The message of necessity did not match the intent. There was no public input. It was rushed through hours after being printed without being read with many admitted mistakes. It admends many different laws by repealing the original then added in a hasty new law. There was no public input into something dealing with a constitutional issue. What is this had been an abortion law to “save lives?” As Cuomo spoke in Rochester, pushing for the first state to be in the lead, Obama began his speech at the same time. Obviously politics for a 2016 bid for President. Why 7 rounds? They didn’t think 5 would pass. Nevermind the 10 round law already in effect or DEC hunting regs lower than 10 rounds. No-one makes 7 round mags. Ridiculous. There was nothing to go after criminals, only law-abiding citizens. What effect did the last “assault weapons” ban have? None per DOJ. Less than 2% of crimes involve rifles of any type. .222/5.56 powerful? Ha, I wouldn’t use it on a deer but the wife sure would be accurate with low recoil! On and on…their ultimate goal is to get rid of private ownership of firearms per many gun-grabbers own words. One more step for control. Holder is on record in the 90’s stating it was possible to “brainwash” people into believing guns are bad within decades. He then denies an equal arm of gov’t…Congress, their duty to investigate Fast and Furious, with hundreds dead from the US gov’t, stating it is their executive privilege. Guess what else…Mexico does not have private owernship of firearms. There is only 1 gun shop…the gov’t, yet criminals/military run rampant. This is about control and changing attitudes of the masses to disarm them. Thomas Jefferson said the beauty of the 2nd Admend is that “they won’t know they need it until it is too late.” Do you really wan’t those who wrote Medicare Part B and the 2,000 page Obamacare, now stretched to over 20,000+ pages, rewritting your 4 page Constitution? The purpose of the gov’t, as stated in the Dec. of Independence, is to protect the *rights* of the people with *small* gov’t. They then went on to spell out our unalienable rights in the Bill of Rights. We are to have sufficient arms of common use (modern muskets = most popular black rifle). “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neirther Liberty nor Safety” – Benjamin Frankin
No-one has issues with criminals being taken off the street and kept off the street…but turning neighbor against neighbor is an old tactic used for control.
Check this out, this is what is happening:
http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-s…
MUN:
You wrote “Bart – Actually, this program you’re so concerned about was rolled out about a year ago. Must be Cuomo was conspiring to take away your Second Amendment rights even then !”
Yes, I believe Cuomo had been working on his gun control law since he took office, just waiting for the opportunity (excuse) to implement it. The snitch component was rolled out ahead of his gun law, part of the plan to enforce it.
Bart – Sorry, but I still don’t see the Cuomo Conspiracy. Andy is a politician, first, last and always. And so far I think we can all agree that he’s been pretty savvy in taking positions that the public in general supports. So unless one believes that he’s part of some sinister Hitlerian plot to deprive New Yorkers of their guns for reasons unknown, I think it’s safe (so to speak) to assume that he believes that his SAFE Act is what the majority of voters , both in the state and nationally, want. He may be wrong (and hence not as good a politician as I think). Only time and the next election will tell.
However, I can’t disagree that he has handled the matter badly and pushed the legislation through with unseemly haste (but with the cooperation of the GOP). And I have every expectation that some sections will be found by the courts to be unacceptable constitutional infringments and possibly the process itself to have been a violation of state law. But at the end of the day it’s the voters who will have the final say on what he accomplished and how he accomplished it.
MJN. I don’t contend that it’s a conspiracy. It’s just part of Cuomo’s overall political plan. You said yourself he’s a politician, and he’s following the liberal agenda on gun control, competing with Obama and other like-minded governors to see how far he can go to limit the 2nd amendment. Cuomo’s advantage is that he has a liberal legislature full of toadies that jump whenever he tells them to. It’s comical how little they know about firearms, and it’s embarrassing (for them) to see how many mistakes they made in their haste to cram Cuomo’s legislation through. I laugh at Cuomo when he says “I have a gun” as if to imply he’s a supporter of gun rights. Right. Just like Obama saying “I do skeet shooting all the time”. And don’t take any advice on guns from Joe Biden!
Don’t take any advice on guns from Dick Cheney. That wily Andrew Cuomo, just waiting for 20 children and six teachers to be murdered in under ten minutes. What luck. Truth is, Bart, most gun owners are appalled by the behavior of the NRA-types. That’s where the tipping point has finally been reached. Do you actually think like Obama had pictures of him shooting skeet photoshopped or something?
Troll: I don’t think Obama’s picture of him ‘doing skeet shooting’ was necessarily photoshopped. At least he’s got the barrel pointed in the right direction. But yes, I think Cuomo and Obama are political opportunists. Now I hear Mayor ‘Nanny’ Bloomberg is taking note of Cuomo’s backtracking on his new gun law. Bloomberg will allow the sale of 32-ounce cups but you can only put 16 ounces of soda in them.
Comparing sensible gun laws to the East German Stasi . . . conspiracy theories all over the place . . . gratuitous shots at Joe Biden (right, what self-respecting Vice President has yet to shoot someone in the face?) . . . gratuitous dragging in soda into this thread . . . pretending the Second Amendment gives people unlimited access to weapons (note that machine guns, somehow, are still illegal); top off with not one word spoken of the Newtown massacre . . .
Troll – You’ve forgotten that the Newtown shootings were a government plot to further the liberal agenda of disarming America (all except the criminals) to facilitate the seizure of power by a Muslim-socialist -UN cabal.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012…
Darn, MJN, you’re right: I missed that. Not to mention those political opportunists, doing the will of the majority; how crafty is that?
Not to mention Obama exploiting children in his photo-op when he announced he announced his new-found agenda for gun control in January. Pretty classy for a guy who now doesn’t want children visiting the White House. It’s HIS house, not the people’s house I guess.
Bart – Wonder how many Republicans have exploited veterans by having their pictures taken at VA hospitals ? Or expoited public paranoia by mugging for the cameras at NRA meetings? Or exploited flood or tornado victims by flying to a disaster site for a couple of hours of looking like they give a damn?
Or do you believe that exploitation is exclusively an Obama tactic?
This is what is dangerous:
http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar…
Politicians forget that even after they are elected their job is for the people. More and more people see the gov’t as their baby’s dady and to make them safe. The intent of the gov’t is to protect our unalienable rights and be For the People, By the People. Big gov’t wants to dictate (tyranny) to you, it is about control and what has failed in every other big gov’t in the past. That is why our country was supposed to be different. “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
Comparing the Bush administration to the Obama administration is comparing apples to apples. Patriot Act, rendition, drones, indefinite detention, suspension of habeas corpus, far reaching executive orders…it grows and grows. Bush sat with the kids on 9/11 while we were under attack. Obama was on his 7th or so vacation golfing when being told about Bengazi numerous times…then top brass were replaced who disobeyed orders to help Americans in need. Look up free speech zones and the attempt to prevent protesting anyone under secret service protection (that can be anyone who the president decides). Don’t forget Holder being in charge of Fast and Furious yet claiming executive privilege to deny an equal branch of gov’t, Congress, to investigate the deaths of hundreds. What about saying we need more open gov’t then making the penalties for whistle blowers even stricter? What about asking your generals if they would fire on their own citizens?
Funny what was considered conspiracy decades ago is now the norm. See the gradual loss of liberties? Have you followed up on NDAA? USS Liberty attack. US purposefully spreading STD’s in Alabma and Guatemala and radiation in Kansas City? What about the leaked army manual on re-education camps? What about the militarization of DHS (which is under FEMA) with armored personnel carriers, 7,000 “assault rifles” and billions of rounds of hollowpoints (not target ammo and can’t be used in warfare per Geneva conventions) – enough to carry on a 30yr war of when Iraq war was at it’s peak – yet still won’t get aid to Hurricane Sandy victims. What about the head of the CIA telling an IT conference that they want to hold all data for all time and the creation of the data center in Utah? What about the US saying Al Qaeda was in Libya and then turns around and supports “rebels” of the same region? Gaddafi was well liked by his people and they got 50 grand to buy a house once married. His mistake? Going to the gold Dinar currency and away from the Rothschild banks. Ask what would happen if oil was no longer traded in USD? How come our Federal Reserve (which is not federal…it is a private money making business that can print money at will) has not been audited, can’t and probably won’t? I could go on all day…people are starting to WAKE UP. There are attacks every day on our freedoms. The largest killer in history: democide. Chinese, Nazis and Soviets rounded up dissidents and they were shot. Can’t happen? It has. They probably didn’t think it could happen either. We don’t want to even start down that road. The UN has usurped our own laws/supreme court before…now John Kerry is pushing for the UN Small Arms Treaty under the current administration. You had better be aware of all of this and asking questions. “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” – Benjamin Franklin
Ever have more questions than answers when you read/listen to the news? The Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to bare the secrets of government and inform the people.- Hugo Black
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/army-em…
http://www.filmsforaction.org/news/cnn_whi…
http://www.filmsforaction.org/news/cnn_whi…
David Shaw- I applaud you for being more direct, honest, and informative than this “newspaper” has ever been. Our country is going down the tubes and BOTH parties are to blame. And the longer we all stick to rooting for one side or the other rather than demanding truth and justice from our “leaders” from both sides, the harder it will be to climb our way back up.
Polarizing people is working for the powers that be. We truly do need third parties and more of them. They can’t even get on a national TV debate, the system is rigged by the two main parties. Check out the Libertarian Party (not to be confused with Liberal). If enough people realize that voting 3rd party is not a waste but instead voting for a true, positive change we can regain the power for the people.
History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling the money and its issuance.- James Madison
1849: Gutele Schnaper, Mayer Amschel Rothschild’s wife dies. Before her death she would state, “If my sons did not want wars, there would be none.”
ANSELM ROTHSCHILD
“Give me the power to issue a nation’s money; then I do not care who makes the law.”
Absolutely! The third party debate during the last presidential election was amazing and it was a low down dirty shame it was ignored by the media. The ideas were fresh, the issues were discussed, the candidates were respectful towards one another, and each candidate had the concerns of the American people foremost in their thoughts, not the concerns of the lobbyists or whoever stuffed their pockets with money. Our country has been “for sale” for far too long. The government is supposed to work for the people, not the other way around, and corruption has been embraced by Repubs and Dems alike. I can’t take anyone seriously who says one side is better than the other.