Legal Updates Highlights
Schuyler County sends out “Legal Updates” every month, which can also be found in its entirety on SCOPE’s website. Other highlights are in the Firing Lines. Below are two articles showing growth in gun ownership, even in New York City.
Brooklyn’s newest gun store in 50 years opens with focus on education and safety
A National Rifle Association-certified firearms instructor and trainer has opened Brooklyn’s newest gun store in 50 years. Owner Michael Bergida has reported a steady stream of phone calls and customers.
Customers are only allowed to enter the highly secure double door entrance by appointment and people must show their gun license.
Bergida was inspired to start the business from the June 2022 Supreme Court decision, New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen. The landmark ruling dramatically relaxed gun laws and expanded the right to bear arms. Bergida got his license a year later and became an instructor. He opened a site to help people get licensed, learn about responsible gun ownership and learn gun safety online.
Bergida wants to educate people about responsible gun ownership through seminars and training. “A lot of people have really bad heads here when it comes to guns in New York City. There’s no gun culture here, and they don’t really understand it,” Bergida said. “My job is to educate.”
(SCOPE note: Bergida is wrong, there is a gun culture in New York City - among criminals.)
Lox & Loaded gun club aims for self-defense for Jewish community amid antisemitism threat
The gun club is aimed at giving Jews and allies the tools to defend themselves with antisemitism at historic levels in the U.S.
"It's never been easy being Jewish, but it's feeling harder and harder," said Lox & Loaded Member Jeffrey Sumber. "I think people that were in liberal households, or weren't accustomed to firearms, are realizing that the police cannot be at every street corner and every event," added gun owner Gayle Pearlstein. "We aren't big Second Amendment gun people, but we love our identity, and we will do anything to preserve it," said Daniel Schwartz, president of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, "and if that means defending it, we will."
