Members Meeting  by Tom Reynolds

On Saturday, at the annual Members Meeting, one hundred and twenty (120) SCOPE members welcomed Republican Governor candidate Bruce Blakeman and his running mate, Lieutenant Governor candidate (and current Madison County Sheriff) Todd Hood.

Blakeman covered a variety of issues in his speech, one of which was the 2nd Amendment.  The thrust of his 2A position is that we must conform to the Constitution.  Blakeman advised that when he is elected, he will appoint Todd Hood to head a 2A Constitutional Enforcement Task Group to take immediate and decisive action, including:

• Reviewing existing New York statutes, regulations, and enforcement policies to ensure compliance with United States Supreme Court decisions;

• Directing state agencies to align enforcement practices with constitutional requirements;

• Recommending legislative and regulatory reforms to restore constitutional compliance;

• Coordinating with outside counsel and allied organizations, when appropriate, to advance and defend these objectives.

SCOPE President John Elwood later asked Todd Hood about AR15 bans and Hood strongly replied that he does NOT support a ban on either AR 15s or high-capacity magazines.       

Mr. Blakeman did say that he has owned a Smith & Wesson revolver for years and has been a gun club member for sixteen years.  When asked if he would like to go to a shooting range on one of his trips upstate, he replied with an enthusiastic yes.

He pointed out that he won the Nassau County Executive position twice, in a Democrat majority county.  As the County Executive, he worked with ICE and as the next governor, New York will no longer be a sanctuary state.

In 2024, U S News and World Report ranked Nassau County as the safest county in America.

Blakeman was not afraid of being controversial. 

He indicated that his first act as governor would be to pardon ex police officer Erik Duran who was convicted of manslaughter.  Duran stopped a fleeing subject by throwing a water cooler at him and knocking him off his motorized scooter.  The subject ran into a tree and died and the Bronx DA convicted Duran of manslaughter.

New York City Mayor Mamdani was discussed and Blakeman did not hesitate in calling Mamdani a communist.  Blakeman believes that Mamdani and Kathy Hochul are against private property rights, the U S Constitution, American values and their goal is control.

Blakeman has been very blunt in describing Hochul’s main project as a ‘Green energy scam.’

After Blakeman finished, his running mate, Todd Hood spoke and answered questions.  Hood discussed his career in law enforcement.  He believes that he and Blakeman have an ‘urgent task.’ 

Hood was proud of his efforts in bringing church services into the county jail, where he obviously believes more people should be; he is against ‘Bail Reform’ which keeps repeat offenders out-of-jail and on-the-streets.

All this ended with a catered lunch that allowed SCOPE members to not only chew food but to ‘chew on’ the multiple messages they had heard.  More members than usual remained to listen to the Board of Directors meeting that was held in the afternoon.

Thanks to all that attended.