By Tim Andrews SCOPE President 

    With the new year comes the 2018 Albany legislative session. Thus far the early focus in Albany seems to be on passing legislation prohibiting those convicted of domestic violence crimes from possessing firearms, and banning the sale of bump stocks.  A state law pertaining to domestic violence would be redundant, since federal law already addresses that issue.  Consideration is also being given to a state ban on bump-stocks.

   Thus far the governor’s legislative agenda seems more about his political aspirations than benefiting New Yorkers or fighting crime. Regarding bump-stocks, until the tragic shooting in Las Vegas, most people had no idea what a bump-stock was, and they were never used in crime.  I recognize that most shooters I know have no interest in a bump-stock for various reasons.  I for one am not interested in owning a bump-stock, but is that a reason to support a ban?  I would argue no, because doing so would fall into the trap of blaming and banning hardware.  When you start blaming and banning hardware where does it stop?  

     A good example is the issue of magazine size.  How do you argue against magazine bans and support banning bumpstocks?  We need to maintain consistency in our arguments.  Whether we are talking about semi-automatic rifles, large capacity magazines or bump-stocks, they are not the problem, any more than a corvette is the cause of speeding.

     Furthermore, with practice one could pretty much duplicate what a bumpstock does with just your finger.  On the issue of bans, how many times have you heard a hunter, a sporting clay shooter or others say about military style semi-autos, “who needs one of them, they should be banned.”  What everyone needs to understand, and the unSAFE Act clearly proves, the anti-gunners want them all.  They want your Remington 1100 as well as your AR-15.  The unSAFE Act’s mental health provisions and the recertification provisos provide for the confiscation of all your firearms, shotguns, rifles and handguns. You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose all your firearms.  Under the unSAFE Act due process is gone.  You are guilty and it’s up to you to prove your innocence to get your firearms back.  

    This November we face one of the most important elections of our lifetime.  You will here me pound away at that throughout the year.  You may get tired of hearing me talk and write about it, but please understand, it is not overstated to say that the 2018 election is the most important election of our lifetime.  The best way to turn things around in Albany is to change the name on the front door of the governor’s mansion.  I’ve heard some say it can’t be done; we can’t over come the vote coming out of New York City.  Well, that is simply not true.  57% of the state’s adult population comes from outside New York City.  In the 2014, gubernatorial election there were 3.8 million votes cast.  There are about 14 million people in New York who are eligible to vote.  That means there were 10 million people in New York State who did not vote in 2014. It’s estimated that 6 million people outside of New York City did not vote in 2014.  Cuomo won that election by 500,000 votes.  It’s easy to see that the 6 million who did not vote could have easily swung the election to Rob Astorino had they voted.  

    There are an estimated 4 to 6 million gun owners in New York. Undoubtedly many of those gun owners did not vote in 2014.  That means there is fertile ground for us to plow, the numbers tell us we can defeat Cuomo in 2018.  Voting and the right to keep and bear arms have a common purpose, each to protect the other.  Second Amendment supporters need to treat the vote with the same reverence we treat the Second Amendment.  

    Most gun owners in New York are not members of SCOPE, the NRA, or any other Second Amendment organization.  Those are the folks we need to reach.  Many of those are people you know.  Help us get the message out.  The only thing we need to defeat Cuomo in 2018 is a lot of hard work and commitment from each one of us.  We’ll be calling on all of you to help us educate gun owners on the importance of the 2018 election.  Help us get gun owners registered to vote, and then make sure they vote on November 6, 2018.  We need an unprecedented voter turn out; with your help we can turn the tide in 2018.  Visit S.C.O.P.E.’s newwebsite , www.scopeny.org for information on voting and links to the board of elections where you’ll find the information necessary to register to vote.