SCOPE Activities in March 2025
SCOPE Chapter Visits. SCOPE officials recently visited the Schoharie and Seneca County Chapters of SCOPE, engaging in discussions about the organization's key priorities. The five main priorities highlighted were: synchronizing efforts with other 2A organizations in New York State, expanding membership both individually and within active chapters, educating politicians and the public about firearms legislation in New York, developing and promoting new firearms legislation, and supporting high school shooting sports through donations. The President also shared SCOPE’s strategic vision for 2025-2026, which includes developing a robust social media plan, creating a merchandise strategy, and certifying SCOPE range instructors. Additionally, the SCOPE Board of Directors approved of a significant donation to Gun Owners of America New York (GOA-NY) to support their lawsuit against the controversial ammunition background check law; and to the Firearms Policy Coalition lawsuit against the ban of body armor in New York State; reinforcing SCOPE's commitment to defending Second Amendment rights.
SCOPE’s Top Ten Most Egregious Firearms Legislation. With the start of a new two-year legislative period, new bill numbers were assigned to both existing and new firearms legislation. Currently, the New York State legislature is considering sixty-nine firearms bills that could potentially become law. In response to the influx of these sixty-nine bills, SCOPE (Shooter's Committee on Political Education) decided to form a committee tasked with analyzing and identifying the Top Ten Most Egregious Firearms Legislation in New York State. After weeks of analysis and deliberation, SCOPE narrowed the list down to their Top Ten Most Egregious Firearms Legislation. The bills include Assembly Bill A00929, A02229/S03562, S00418/A01774, S00658/A04085, A00346, S05813, A03376, A01210/S00362, S02158/A03021, and S01358. These bills are available for review on the New York State Assembly website and the document detailing SCOPE's analysis has been posted on the SCOPENY2A.org website, as well as shared with other 2A organizations throughout the state to ensure their members’ situational awareness. SCOPE officials are making plans to brief the majority and minority leaders in the New York State legislature, as well as senators and assemblypersons on SCOPE’s Top Ten Most Egregious Firearms Legislation.
Annual All Members Meeting. Coordination is underway for the Annual All Members meeting, set to take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the VFW Post 6778 in Palmyra, New York, from 0945 to 1200. We are thrilled to welcome Bobby Ann Cox as our guest speaker. A dynamic speaker and civil rights attorney from New York State, Cox has a distinguished history of suing government entities and recently secured a historic victory against Governor Hochul in a landmark lawsuit. The meeting will also feature a presentation on SCOPE's progress over the past year, as well as the organization's plans for the 2025-2026 period. In addition, elections for At-Large directors will be determined. Lunch will be provided for all members, followed by an afternoon SCOPE board of directors meeting.
Updated SCOPE By-Laws. The SCOPE by-laws were updated in the last year and the updated by-laws will be voted on at the board of directors meeting on Saturday, April 26, 2025.
Increasing Active SCOPE Chapters. In March, SCOPE officials visited the Tioga County Sportsmen's Association with the goal of boosting membership and exploring the possibility of starting a SCOPE Chapter in Tioga County. The visit proved successful in attracting several new members to SCOPE, though there was no interest from attendees in taking on the responsibility of leading a new chapter in the area. Despite this, the visit was seen as a positive step in expanding the organization’s presence within the county. Additionally, several other counties without SCOPE chapters have recently shown interest in activating a chapter.
SCOPE continues to protect and restore the Second Amendment. We need your help. Please join us by volunteering your time by joining a committee or writing an article for the Firing Line. Before the end of April, the annual All Members meeting will occur. I hope to see you there.
John Elwood
SCOPE President
