Message from NY StateTrooper PBA President Tom Mungeer
Arbitrary and Capricious - Legislating by Knee-Jerk Reaction
As expected, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s convening of an extraordinary session of the New York State Legislature this week to hastily draft and vote on new, asinine gun “safety” legislation in response to the United States Supreme Court's decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen - which our governor called reckless and reprehensible - was nothing short of a complete shit-show.
Senators and members of the Assembly congregated from around the state in Albany Thursday only to find there was no actual legislation to read, only disjointed ideas being discussed behind closed doors. As of this writing, there still is no definitive concrete plan. The following is my ranting op-ed about what the Governor seems to want to enact.
Under the conceptual new concealed carry law, guns would be banned from “sensitive areas” such as government buildings, parks, mass transit, health and medical facilities, places where children gather, daycare centers, schools, zoos, playgrounds, polling places, educational institutions and places where alcohol is served. It also added new training courses and safe storage requirements in vehicles plus requirements in the purchase of ammunition for guns that require a permit, including that a check will be required to purchase ammunition, and a permit will need to be shown at the time of purchase. In addition, any private business is considered off limits for concealed carry permit holders unless there is a sign displayed saying otherwise.
I find it rather ironic that they want guns banned from “any gathering of individuals to collectively express their constitutional right to protest or assemble.” So, you can protest the new gun law as long as you don’t have a gun. The only thing that they seem to have gotten right is that it appears, for now, that active and retired law enforcement will be exempt from the new regulations (as of this writing).
When asked where one could possibly go with a concealed weapon as a result of the new law, Governor Hochul replied, “Probably some streets.” (Are you kidding me? Our elected officials are out of their damn minds!)
In response, I think I’ll defer to the majority opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who stated, “expanding the category of ‘sensitive places’ simply to all places of public congregation that are not isolated from law enforcement defines the category of ‘sensitive places’ far too broadly…and would eviscerate the general right to publicly carry arms for self-defense…”
According to constitutional expert Andrew Lieb, "It's very unclear if it's going to appease the new Supreme Court standard and it's likely going to result in another Second Amendment constitutional crisis."
Legislating by knee-jerk reaction has proven time and time again to not work. When you create bad policy, you create bad law. According to the opinions of more than a few, many aspects of this law are unconstitutional as well. Where else but New York can a group of elected officials get together and collectively punish - not the criminals who will do whatever they want anyway - but the millions of law-abiding citizens who legally own a firearm? As we all know, criminals aren’t going to go out and get a concealed carry permit before committing armed robbery.
Cue the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association. Your turn, ladies and gentlemen.
A Voice from the Other Side of the Aisle
"They create a target for criminals. If you're going to identify a location and you're going to tell the criminal that at that location there will be no law-abiding New Yorkers who will safely and securely carry a firearm for their own self-defense, you are putting the safety of other people at that location at risk. So, I actually think what they're doing in Albany will make New York less safe."
- GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin
Who’s Out of Touch? Governor Hochul’s Top 10 Quotes from this Week
10) This is not the wild west. This is New York state.
9) The SCOTUS is ruling “totally out of touch” with what most New York residents want.
8) We [State elected officials] know that we have more powers than people may realize and we're going to institute those to make sure New Yorkers are safe.
7) I can't shut off all places. The decision said you cannot say the entire island of Manhattan is off limits. I will go right up to the line. I will not cross the line.
6) I'm trying to prevent deaths while respecting the rights of gun owners. We'll find the right balance. I'm very familiar with the culture and I understand people's concerns, but I have a responsibility to protect lives in this state, and that's what I'm doing.
5) While the Supreme Court's appalling decision to strike down New York State's concealed carry law has potentially vast and far-reaching implications, it does not activate any immediate changes to State gun license and permit laws, nor does it allow residential permit owners to carry their weapons outside their homes. As the case returns to lower court, we encourage responsible gun owners to continue to follow their current restrictions, and always put safety first.
4) The presumption is that private property owners will not want to have concealed carry weapons on their premises, but should they decide they do, they would actually affirmatively put a sign in their window...'Concealed carry weapons welcome here' - otherwise the presumption will be in the state of New York that they are not.
3) If the federal government will not have sweeping laws to protect us, then our states and our governors have a moral responsibility to do what we can and have laws that protect our citizens because of what is going on - the insanity of the gun culture that has now possessed everyone all the way up to, even to the Supreme Court.
2) This is dealing with the fact that the Supreme Court less than one week ago turned our world upside down. And now it says that there's gonna be a much higher number of people walking our streets going on the subway sitting next to someone on a bus unless we take the action to protect our citizens.
1) When asked if she had “the numbers to show it’s the concealed carry permit holders that are committing crimes” – “I don’t need to have numbers. I don’t need to have a data point to say this.”
