By Tom Reynolds, SCOPE President and Tracy Marisa, Chemung County

To Vote Or Not —There Really Isn’t Any Question

Asking SCOPE members to turn out and vote is like preaching to the choir. That’s true; or at least we hope it is.

A famous writer said that we humans tend to “…remove the organ and demand the function”.  We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings to be fruitful. In other words, given how little emphasis there has been on civic engagement in these past few decades, why are we surprised that our voting muscles have atrophied? 

Whether you need some encouragement yourself to get out and vote or whether you would never miss an opportunity to vote but you know people who would have to be dragged to a polling place kicking and screaming, it may be worth a few minutes looking at some of the reasons why folks don’t turn out to vote in November and what the rest of us can do about it.

A excuse reason heard why gun owners are not registering to vote is that they don’t want to be called for jury duty.

The following are the ways NYS puts together its list of potential jurors (from the state website): “Potential jurors are randomly selected from lists of registered voters, holders of drivers’ licenses or ID’s issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles, New York State income tax filers, recipients of unemployment insurance or family assistance, and from volunteers.” Not registering to vote is not going to save someone from their civic duty of sitting on a jury. Register to vote and then perform another one of the relatively few civic duties we actually have to do—turn out and vote.

Also, we need people on juries who believe that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights should not be tossed out the window. There are more than enough of the other sort as potential jurors out there and we don’t need to cede more territory to the other side, in court or elsewhere, by simply not being there.  Picture yourself on trial for a Safe Act violation and all 2A supporters avoided jury duty.  75% of life is just showing up.

2020 is, as we know, a presidential election year and while that generates a lot of interest, in NYS it may also lead to the next reason that people don’t vote: the feeling that their vote doesn’t count. But that may only apply to the presidential election in this coming November. All other lines on the ballot are totally up for grabs and the winner will be the candidate who can get the greatest number of people to turn out and vote for him or her. Many local elections are won by very few votes, usually a half-dozen or fewer, and in some cases by only one vote. It happens more often than you think.

For those elections that are literally closest to where you live—town, village, city, county—people’s individual votes absolutely do matter. Some of those candidates running for local office are on the same page with us (re: the Second Amendment) and some are definitely not. You should know which are which.

Some of the reasons why folks don’t turn out to vote in November and what the rest of us can do about it.

Voting requires some planning ahead, if you have not registered. 

IN PERSON REGISTRATION (N.Y. Election Law Sections 5-210, 5-211, 5-212)  You may register at your local board of elections or any state agency participating in the National Voter Registration Act, on any business day throughout the year but, to be eligible to vote in the General Election, your application must be received no later than October 9, 2020.

MAIL IN REGISTRATION (N.Y. Election Law Section 5-210(3))
Applications must be postmarked no later than October 9, 2020 and received by a board of elections no later than October 14, 2020 to be eligible to vote in the General Election.

If you’ve changed your address, you need to re-register to vote.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS (N.Y. Election Law Section 5-208(3))
Notices of change of address from registered voters (must be) received by a county board of elections by October 14,

Tired of voting for the lesser of two evils? 

Vote in next year’s party primary, when your vote selects the candidates and where your vote is more meaningful because fewer people vote.  To vote in next year’s primary, you must be registered in that party before this November’s election. 

With governmental offices being closed much more than usual, you can go to https://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html to download the registration form.  For those who have access to a printer, it would be a kindness to your unregistered friends and neighbors who might not have internet access if you printed a few of the forms and had them handy for them to fill out.

Absentee Ballots

As of this writing (late July), county boards of elections were awaiting state guidance regarding covid-19 and absentee voting for the November 3rd general election. At this time, voters are not able to use covid-19 as a reason for requesting an absentee ballot. However, legitimate illness, disability, absence and so forth are valid reasons to request an absentee ballot. Again, people with internet access and a printer can help out people who don’t have those things.

Ignorance is no excuse.
Close to Election Day, county boards of elections generally publish sample ballots online that represent exactly the ballots that voters will be handed at their polling places. This is yet another way that people with internet access can help those without. There is no reason, anymore, why people shouldn’t already know whose name will appear on various lines before they enter their polling place. While voting might have seemed to be mysterious in the past and used as an excuse for not voting (or voting ignorantly), that is no longer the case.

November 3rd — please vote, and encourage your friends, neighbors, and family members to vote. Pick them up and buy them a coffee or a soda if that helps grease the wheels a little. We can change things but we have to use the weapon at our disposal and not leave it holstered — voting.

Who / What is Black Lives Matter,  By Tom Reynolds, SCOPE President

S.C.O.P.E. was formed as an educational organization to defend the Constitution and especially the 2^nd Amendment.  Towards that end, we would like our members to know some facts about what is behind the social upheaval that is attempting to destroy the benefits - such as the 2^nd Amendment - that we all have enjoyed under the Constitution. 

Black Lives Matter might be viewed as a grassroots movement of concerned people gathering together.  It is much more.

Black Lives Matter is a corporation whose real name is Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF). (Yep…it’s one of those capitalistic corporations they profess to hate.) 

The following information is on their web site.  It’s a nationwide corporation!  BLMGNF has chapters in: Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Lansing, Long Beach, Memphis, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, South Bend and in Canada in Toronto, Vancouver and Waterloo. (If you were impressed by how all those recent riots erupted simultaneously from a grassroots movement…well…maybe not so grassroots.)

BLMGNF is a not-for-profit corporation but not tax exempt, so donations are not tax deductible.  Except...if you go to its website and want to donate, you are transferred to ActBlue Charities which will take your donation, give you a tax deduction, and then distribute your donation to BLMGNF.  Sort of…    

Who is ActBlue?

Taken directly from ActBlue’s web page, “Our (ActBlue) platform is available to Democratic candidates and committees, progressive organizations, and nonprofits that share our values for no cost besides a 3.95% processing fee on donations. And we operate as a conduit, which means donations made through ActBlue to a campaign or organization are considered individual donations”.

ActBlue consists of three parts: ActBlue Charities facilitates donations to left-of-center 501(c)(3) nonprofits; Act Blue Civics is its 501(c)(4) affiliate; ActBlue is a 527 Political Action Committee.  These three have raised over $5 billion dollars in the sixteen years since it started.  If its 3.95% transaction fee has been applied to all donations, that equates to over $197 million.

So, ActBlue is a Democratic Party front affiliated with BLMGNF.  If only it was that simple and stopped there. 

Per Business Insider Australia, “ActBlue…distributes the money raised to Thousand Currents, which is then granted to Black Lives Matter”.

What is Thousand Currents (Formerly International Development Exchange)?

Again, per Business insider Australia, “Thousand Currents is a 501(3)(c) non-profit that provides grants to organizations that are...developing alternative economic models…”.  (Is anarchy now an alternative economic model?)

“Thousand Currents essentially acts as a quasi-manager for Black Lives Matter: ‘It provides administrative and back office support, including finance, accounting, grants management, insurance, human resources, legal and compliance,’ (Executive Director Solome) Lemma said”.  (Finance, insurance, human resources, legal and compliance?  It sounds like General Motors!)

What’s the significance of the above?

Black Lives Matter is not some fly-by-night fad that is going to loot and destroy and then disappear into the ash heap of history.  It’s a multi corporation, big business which is heavily associated with and supports the Democratic Party and it is here to stay.   Arguing whether Black Lives or All Lives Matter is meaningless and distracts us from what it is trying to achieve.  It is a left-wing political movement that will have a significant impact on the Democratic Party programs for the foreseeable future. 

Socialism and Communism are intimately linked to these efforts while the US Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights have no place in their plans.  Patrisse Cullors, one of Black Lives Matter’s co-founders is widely reported as saying, “We are trained Marxists”.

The president of Greater New York Black Lives Matter said that if the movement fails to achieve meaningful change during nationwide protests, it will “burn down this system.”  Not the peaceful change we celebrate under our Constitution but violent change.  For those of us who like our Constitution, this is a challenge thrown in our face.

If you have wondered why politicians have danced around criticizing Black Lives Matter, now you know.

Sources of this information:
 *HTTPS://INFLUENCEWATCH.ORG/NON-PROFIT/BLACK-LIVES-MATTER-FOUNDATION/

* HTTPS://BLACKLIVES MATTER.COM  (Chapters; Current Chapters)

* HTTPS://BLACKLIVES MATTER.COM   (Donate)

* HTTPS://SECURE.ACTBLUE.COM/DONATE/MS_BLM_HOMEPAGE_2019

* HTTPS://SUPPORT.ACTBLUE.COM/DONORS/ABOUT-ACTBLUE/WHAT-IS-THE-DIFFERENCE-BETWEEN-   ACTBLUE-ACTBLUE-CIVICS-AB-CHARITIES-AND-ACTBLUE-TECHNICAL-SERVICES/

* HTTPS://WWW.REDSTATE.COM/ELIZABETH-VAUGHN/2020/06/12/854023/

* HTTPS://THOUSANDCURRENTS.ORG

* HTTPS://WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM.AU/WHAT-IS-THOUSAND-CURRENTS-BLACK-LIVES-MATTER-CHARITY-2020-6

* HTTPS://NYPOST.COM/2020/06/25/BLM-CO-FOUNDER-DESCRIBES-HERSELF-AS-TRAINED-MARXIST/

* HTTPS://WWW.WASHINGTONTIMES.COM/NEWS/2020/JUNE/25/PATRISSE-CULLORS-BLACK-LIVES-MATTER-CO-FOUNDER-FEA/

* HTTPS://NYPOST.COM/2020/06/25/BLM-LEADER-IF-CHANGE-DOESNT-HAPPEN-WE-WILL-BURN-DOWN-THIS-SYSTEM/

By Tom Reynolds, SCOPE President

Sinatra: “Chicago, Chicago that toddling town…”

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) appeared on CNN’s State of the Union and asserted “We are being inundated with guns from states that have virtually no gun control, no background checks, no ban on assault weapons — that is hurting cities like Chicago.”

Oh really!  What are the facts?

Every time anyone in the United States purchases a gun from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), that FFL runs a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check.  And sometimes the FFL checks to see if the buyer has passed a background check via a state-issued concealed-carry permit. Even in states that allow individual private sales, it is illegal to knowingly sell to anyone who you believe is obtaining a firearm for criminal purposes. 

How about somebody who crosses state lines to buy a gun? That person undergoes the same NICS background check.

What about those online sales of guns? The exact same laws apply to all online sales.

The vast majority of Americans obtain their guns in one of these ways, and those people rarely commit crimes of any kind, never mind homicides.

On top of all this, every FFL is required by federal law to report to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) the purchase of two or more handguns by the same person within a week. To avoid this requirement, unscrupulous individuals may attempt to use straw purchasers.  Too often, officials, especially in “soft on crime” areas like Chicago, will fail to prosecute these straw purchasers.  It isn’t as though those laws aren’t already on the books; they are. It’s just that criminals ignore laws and get tacit approval from officials who do not prosecute them.

Most importantly, the “assault-weapons bans” that Lightfoot brings up would have no bearing on Chicago’s murder rate, even if those bans actually worked. The vast majority of gun related murders, (both in Chicago and nationwide) are committed with illegally obtained handguns (not rifles or shotguns).  Despite her indefensible vilification of out-of-state gun sellers of handguns and long guns, Chicago has been a poorly run criminal nexus for decades.  (Remember “The Untouchables” from the 1930’s?)  Black-market handguns make their way to Lori Lightfoot’s city, because there is a huge demand for them by criminals!

Don’t think that politicians like Mayor Lightfoot would be satisfied with turning off the flood of illegal handguns. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has said his gun control plan does not include confiscation of legally owned weapons but he also said that his administration would come for “assault weapons”.   America no longer has a federal ban on “assault weapons” so “assault weapons” are legal at the federal level.  Biden’s plan has to include making something illegal that is currently legal!  Does anyone believe that he and his radical left friends will stop with only making “assault weapons” illegal?  As far as leftist politicians are concerned, guns are guns and they should never be in the hands of private citizens, period.

Don’t allow state and local candidates and incumbents—council members, mayors, district attorneys, judges, state senators, assembly members—who think like the Chicago Mayor to take or occupy elected office in New York State. Vote on November 3^rd and take a few like-minded friends and neighbors with you. 

By Tom Reynolds, SCOPE President

On July 23^rd, the New York State Senate’s web site reported that the Senate passed a ghost guns bill (S.7763). 

One of its sponsors, Senator Brad Hoylman (D) said about it “Retailers report sky-high demand for ghost guns, untraceable weapons that can evade even New York’s historically strong gun safety regulations.” 

Another Senator Anna M. Kaplan (D) said that the purpose of the bill was to, “...close the dangerous loopholes that allow untraceable ghost guns to be obtained by people who would otherwise be unable to obtain a legal firearm”.

Stop and read both these statements closely.

“Retailers report sky-high demand for ghost guns, untraceable weapons…” It may shock the Senator to know that retailers, otherwise known as Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL’s), are not allowed to sell untraceable weapons!  But it is a different story for your street corner, illegal arms dealer, (now labelled as “retailers” by Senator Hoylman).  These “retailers” may indeed have “sky-high demand” for ghost guns, but probably not from law abiding citizens.  Of course, all the sales of these street corner, “undocumented retailers” were and are illegal, whether ghost guns or not. 

Senator Kaplan says it will “...close the dangerous loopholes that allow untraceable ghost guns to be obtained by people who would otherwise be unable to obtain a legal firearm”.  What loopholes allowed people who would “be unable to obtain a legal firearm” to legally obtain a firearm from a licensed FFL?  If the law prohibits a person from legally buying a firearm, doesn’t it also prohibit them from illegally buying a firearm? 

Remember, laws only stop law abiding citizens.  Criminals, by definition, know they are doing something illegal and they are unlikely to be stopped by more laws saying that what they already are illegally doing  - is illegal.  FFL’s could not sell ghost guns both before and after this law was passed.

Unfortunately, most people reading the Senators’ statements won’t stop to think about the logic of what is being said and, frankly, that’s the point of their carefully crafted political garbage. 

Whatever your feelings are on ghost guns (and do you really know what a ghost gun is) New York State laws are being enacted based on misinformation promulgated for political purposes by people who don’t really know much about what they are enacting. No one’s freedom should depend on the behavior of the lawless or the ineptitude of government.  Keep this in mind when you evaluate candidates for your vote on November 3^rd.

By Tom Reynolds, SCOPE President

Our Declaration of independence says that we are endowed by our Creator with, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted.” Repeat that thought; Governments are formed to protect Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

Under Missouri law (Title XXXVIII 571.030) it is unlawful to “exhibit, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner”…however, this section “shall not apply to persons who are engaged in a lawful act of defense”.

A St. Louis couple were threatened by an illegal mob that was trespassing on a private street.  The couple openly held firearms to avoid violence by showing the mob that they were armed and could potentially use their firearms.  By displaying their firearms, the homeowners prevented further violence.  The home owners didn’t have police protection so they armed themselves in self-defense and no violence occurred.  But a politically driven prosecutor is ignoring self-defense and charging the couple with a crime that could put them in jail for four years. (The Missouri governor has said he will pardon them, but that can only happen after conviction!)

Self-defense is a basic human right. Just as important is Self-defense through prevention.  Violence prevention by engaging “in a lawful act of self-defense”. 

The left wing is fanatical about leaving you helpless. If you make a minor mistake while using a gun, in a threatening situation which calls for an instant decision, that gives the government fascist the excuse to persecute you. Self-defense be damned.

People use vicious dogs for protection so possible attackers will see the dog and no violence will occur.  Public officials like Governor Cuomo surround themselves with police officers who are visibly armed so that no violence will occur.  That’s self-defense through prevention.  The home owners didn’t have police protection so they armed themselves in self-defense and no violence occurred.

Observe the behavior of the “peaceful protesters” who have been destroying and looting cities.  When the police stood aside and the mob knew there would be no consequences, looting, arson and assaults occurred.  Rapid response by the police in the initial stages would have taught the mob that there were consequences to their actions and deterred them from further violence.  The police would have been stopping current violence and would have been deterring future violence.  

Governor Cuomo has shown that he wants to disarm you with the help of local DA’s, NY’s Attorney General and left-wing local officials.  Gun owners need to pay attention to all positions on ballots.  Down ballot positions like D.A.’s, judges, sheriffs, councilpersons and mayors can have an immediate impact on your lives.  Work with SCOPE to analyze these candidates, speak out and publish the findings. 

If you are not registered to vote, you have until October 9^th to do so.  Vote on November 3^rd.  You must register as a member of a party before November’s election to vote in next year’s primary.  The life and property you save may be your own. 

Our Declaration of independence says that we are endowed by our Creator with, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted.” Repeat that thought; Governments are formed to protect Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Under Missouri law (Title XXXVIII 571.030) it is unlawful to “exhibit, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner”…however, this section “shall not apply to persons who are engaged in a lawful act of defense”.

A St. Louis couple were threatened by an illegal mob that was trespassing on a private street. The couple openly held firearms to avoid violence by showing the mob that they were armed and could potentially use their firearms. By displaying their firearms, the homeowners prevented further violence. The home owners didn’t have police protection so they armed themselves in self-defense and no violence occurred. But a politically driven prosecutor is ignoring self-defense and charging the couple with a crime that could put them in jail for four years. (The Missouri governor has said he will pardon them, but that can only happen after conviction!)

Self-defense is a basic human right. Just as important is Self-defense through prevention. Violence prevention by engaging “in a lawful act of self-defense”.

The left wing is fanatical about leaving you helpless. If you make a minor mistake while using a gun, in a threatening situation which calls for an instant decision, that gives the government fascist the excuse to persecute you. Self-defense be damned.

People use vicious dogs for protection so possible attackers will see the dog and no violence will occur. Public officials like Governor Cuomo surround themselves with police officers who are visibly armed so that no violence will occur. That’s self-defense through prevention. The home owners didn’t have police protection so they armed themselves in self-defense and no violence occurred.

Observe the behavior of the “peaceful protesters” who have been destroying and looting cities. When the police stood aside and the mob knew there would be no consequences, looting, arson and assaults occurred. Rapid response by the police in the initial stages would have taught the mob that there were consequences to their actions and deterred them from further violence. The police would have been stopping current violence and would have been deterring future violence.

Governor Cuomo has shown that he wants to disarm you with the help of local DA’s, NY’s Attorney General and left-wing local officials. Gun owners need to pay attention to all positions on ballots. Down ballot positions like D.A.’s, judges, sheriffs, councilpersons and mayors can have an immediate impact on your lives. Work with SCOPE to analyze these candidates, speak out and publish the findings.

If you are not registered to vote, you have until October 9th to do so. Vote on November 3rd. You must register as a member of a party before November’s election to vote in next year’s primary. The life and property you save may be your own.