By Tim Andrews - SCOPE President

The New York State Assembly may soon consider legislation to ban bump-stocks, or referred to in the bill (A.8717) as bump-fire device or other firing accelerators.

We oppose this legislation because of the broad nature of the proposal and how easily it could include other firearm accessories down the road. Also, state law is not an appropriate place to regulate such devices because visitors from other states where these devices are legal could unknowingly violate such a law while passing through or visiting New York State.

Until the tragic shooting in Las Vegas, most people had no idea what a bump-stock was, and they were never used in crime. Furthermore, with practice one could pretty much duplicate what a bump-stock does with just your finger. Banning bump-stocks in New York will do one thing, it will prevent law-abiding New Yorkers from owning them. However, since bump stocks are available in most other states, this law will create a black market for New York’s criminal population. Laws like this make no sense and will never accomplish their stated purpose.

To address the tragedy in Las Vegas, the focus should be on the individual who committed this horrendous crime. Why did he do it, how was he able to spend days setting up such an advantages tactical position and go unnoticed? The primary asset of the Vegas shooter was his tactical position, given that, he could have accomplished the same results with just about any firearm without a bump-stock.

Another unanswered question is why did it take so long to locate the shooter, could strategically positioned police snipers have ended this tragedy sooner? None of this is meant to be criticism of law-enforcement but these are questions that need answers. Addressing these issues will go much further in saving innocent lives than passing a state ban on hardware.

 Call your Assembly and Senate representatives and ask them to oppose A.8717 and S.6918.