There's Nothing SAFE About New York State's Gun Control Law
The Bill of Rights is under attack and the Second Amendment in particular is smack-dab in the bull’s-eye. The Second Amendment isn’t a Constitutional privilege or nicety; it is a right. You’re right, it’s your right. And a right that has been the subject of political campaign rhetoric and distortion by none other than King Andrew.
When a lunatic gunned down 26 people in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 I like you was horrified. And as usual, politicians jumped on the tragedy bandwagon that was the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary and the state legislature approved the NY SAFE Act on January 15, 2013, with your Governor signing it a half an hour after it passed! As former Obama Chief of Staff and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously said, “Never let good crises go to waste.”
The SAFE Act (Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act) was a step towards the not-so-secret dream of government: complete and total citizen disarmament. The law was so poorly drafted that it failed to exempt police and law enforcement from limits on the number of rounds in a magazine. As you recall, the law imposed an utterly ridiculous 7-round magazine limit that was ultimately declared unconstitutional by a federal court. But, unfortunately, the rest of the law was upheld.
So, why should Randy Credico be so concerned with gun ownership rights? It’s simple. I am an unabashed believer in the Constitution and the drafters’ intent to ensure your fundamental and absolute right to keep and bear arms. And don’t just take my word for it. The Supreme Court of the United States in Heller v. District of Columbia settled the matter once and for all in favor of you, the citizen, and even spoke to the natural right of self-defense.
My fellow New Yorkers, when we allow fundamental Constitutional rights to become subject to political posturing all of us lose, especially the law-abiding firearm owner, who is already subject to rules, laws, statutes and regulations. SAFE Act-ers, like our opportunistic Governor, fail to realize that to many, a firearm is protection and safety of one’s home and family. I’m sure you know the saying, “When seconds count, the police are minutes away.” Minutes, if you’re lucky.
Throughout my life and career in activism and politics, my paramount interest has been to always work within the framework of our Constitution, which, as George Washington stated, “is the guide which I never will abandon.”
Through relentless media campaigns the lawful gun owner has been demonized and it has become readily apparent to me that there is a systematic and deliberate attempt to disarm this country. If you think that’s an exaggeration, let me refer you to California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who famously said on 60 Minutes in 1995, “If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them . . . Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ’em all in, I would have done it.” She complained that the votes just weren’t there. No, Mrs. Feinstein, the Constitution was not there.
Legal and constitutionally guaranteed gun ownership is under attack on a variety of fronts: categorizing certain firearms as assault weapons (Who would want a non-assaultive weapon?), limiting magazine capacity and now the SAFE Act, your Governor’s crowning achievement. Let common sense and the Constitution prevail.
