By Tim Andrews, SCOPE President
Unless our Governor calls them in for a special session, the 2017 legislative session, has adjourned for the year. The good news is we’ve suffered no additional damage to our Second Amendment rights. The bad news is we’ve made no gains either, the SAFE Act remains intact. It’s time to assess where we are now and what we need to do in the future.
First my assessment of where we are now. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it’s not good. There was a lot of wheeling and dealing going on at the end of legislative session. A lot of people were getting their pet projects passed, but law-abiding gun owners were left out in the cold. Legislators showed more interest in naming bridges and parks after themselves than protecting the constitutional rights of their citizens.
The New York State Senate potentially provides us our greatest chance to initiate positive changes to our gun laws, however, not the way it is currently structured. One example, this past session there was a bill in the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee to lift the ban on the sale and possession of firearm suppressors. The Environmental Conservation Committee is chaired by Republican Senator Thomas O’Mara and has an 8-5 Republican majority. So, you say, slam dunk, right? Hold on, not quite. Senator O’Mara pulled back the bill from consideration, telling us he did not have the votes to pass it out of committee. You heard that right, an 8-5 Republican majority and he can’t get the bill through his committee. The ugly dog in the room is, if we cannot pass pro-gun legislation with an 8-5 Republican majority how can the Republicans call themselves a pro-Second Amendment party?
A close examination of the committee’s members shows that two, if not three of the Republican members are clearly anti-gun. Using the NRA’s most recent ratings two of the Republicans have “D” ratings and the third has a “?” rating. My question for the Senate Republican leadership is, how do three anti-gun Senators end up on any committee that deals with gun issues?
In a June 25, 2017 story in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, regarding the appointment of Judge Paul Feinman to the state court of appeals, Governor Cuomo was full of praise for Senate Republicans. The Governor said, “I appreciate the Senate going through the confirmation process as quickly as they did.” That wasn’t enough, Republicans were also instrumental in helping Cuomo get the Tappan Zee bridge named after his father, former governor Mario Cuomo.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if the Republicans had used one or both of these senate actions as leverage to get some concessions on the (un)SAFE Act? I’m a little tired and frustrated with politicians and a party that routinely says they’re pro-gun but never delivers. You’ve heard the saying, “talk is cheap.”
We’re not ready to divorce the GOP but this is an issue we feel Republicans need to consider in the coming months. One of the most egregious victims of the (un)SAFE Act is Simeon Mokhiber of Niagara Falls, New York. Simeon is a nine year combat veteran of the U.S. Army who served his country in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Simeon was involved in a traffic stop in 2016 and was charged with DUI, he was not drinking and was ultimately acquitted of that charge. However, the charge resulted in a search of his vehicle where the officers found a locked box. Inside that box were three seventeen round Glock magazines, a violation of the ten-round magazine size limit of the SAFE Act. Simeon was a concealed carry license holder, but had no firearm with him on the night of his arrest.
On April 21, 2017, Simeon Mokhiber was found guilty of possessing three “ammunition feeding devices” capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition, a violation of the SAFE Act. Simeon’s sentencing date is August 1, 2017, and is facing up to 21 years in prison, 7 years on each count and is now a convicted felon. At a recent Chapter meeting, I addressed the members about Simeon’s case and the many other victims of the mental health provisions of the (un)SAFE Act. My comments did include criticism of the senate GOP, and present at this event was a GOP senate member who took great issue with my criticisms.
The Senator made it very clear she was angry and disagreed with my critique of her senate colleagues. However, what struck me was she wasn’t angry about the harm the SAFE act was inflicting on law-abiding New Yorkers like Simeon Mokhiber. Although most of my remarks focused on (un) SAFE Act victims, all this senator heard or cared about was how she and her senate colleagues were regarded by my remarks.
A question for our state representatives to consider — is this the intended consequence the governor and the legislature wanted? Were Simeon and his empty locked magazines a danger to anyone? Did they warrant a felony conviction and possibly twenty-one years in prison? Is this the thanks Simeon gets from the State of New York for his honorable service to his country? Simeon was, until this conviction, a law-abiding citizen, the father of a disabled child who may soon be without a father. These are the fruits of Governor Cuomo’s and the state legislature’s (un)SAFE Act. The (un)SAFE Act is a travesty and it needs to be repealed.
