Author: Curtis

From our friend Gary:

Hi all,

FYI…

The use of center fire rifles for big game hunting in Albany County will be legal for the next two years. This was to sunset this year if not renewed.

Bill A10342 was passed in both the NYS Senate and Assembly and finally signed into law on 7/31/2018. The DEC hunting guidebook does not have this in it because of the printing deadlines. You may want to tell your classes about this and to always be aware that laws do change.

Here is the link to this bill:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/a10342

From our member Gary….. here is a link to the 2018 DEC Hunting and Trapping guide book for you to download.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/15huntguide.pdf

By David Figuradfigura@nyup.com
NYup.com  (entire article here)

Excerpt:  New York’s Venison Donation Coalition program, which supplies venison donated by the state’s deer hunters to regional food banks and local food pantries, is losing money.

The bottom line, is the program, which last year supplied more than 66,000 pounds of donated venison to food pantries across the state is struggling. For the past two years, the program has run several thousand dollars in the red and this year undoubtedly will be no different.

This program makes hunters look good. The venison they don’t keep for themselves goes to those in need. They’re helping their neighbors out.  The Coalition is reaching out. We could use some help. We don’t want to see this go away. We need your donations to continue making this happen.

Donations can be made at any local sportsmen licensing-issuing location or sent directly to the program at Venison Donation Coalition Inc., 3 Pulteney Square, Bath, N.Y. 14810.

from:  https://www.recordernews.com/opinion/letters/132603

SANTABARBARA SOLD OUT SECOND AMENDMENT SUPPORTERS
Posted by Recorder News | Sep 6, 2018 | Letters | 1 |

To the editor,

For Second Amendment Supporters like myself, one bill has loomed large over the last several years. It’s been our rallying point. It’s defined our advocacy, and it’s become symbolic of this governor’s distaste for a deliberative legislative process and his total disconnect from Upstate.

I’m talking, of course, about the NY SAFE Act, rammed by the governor through the Legislature late at night and with no public debate. I don’t agree with Governor Cuomo on many things, but when he says it’s the strictest gun control law in the country, he’s not kidding.

My opponent voted for it. You would think he’d tout it to Democrats across the district. Instead, he’s doing something funny- he’s trying to convince Second Amendment supporters that he has their back.

Don’t fall for it. Angelo might have backed Second Amendment rights when he was a Republican, but since switching parties and taking tens of thousands of dollars from New York City special interest groups he’s decided it’s more convenient for him to shift his positions accordingly. Angelo had one chance, like every other member of the Legislature, to come through for us. He didn’t. Other Democrats who represent upstate areas in the Assembly have joined a chorus of Republican of voices calling for a SAFE Act repeal. Angelo isn’t one of them. He still makes the case to sportsmen that he shares their values. His grade from the NRA is 7. Not 7 out of 10, 7 percent out of 100.

If Angelo wants to talk about guns, he should go around the district and tell Democrats that he helped pass the strictest gun control bill in the country. What he shouldn’t do is tell a different story to those of us who believe in the constitution, who believe in civil liberties, and who believe that law-abiding, decent Americans should have the right to hunt, to secure their homes and to protect their families.

I’m a member of the NRA and NYSRPA. If you send me to Albany, you’ll never have to wonder how I’ll vote when it comes to protecting our constitutional freedoms. I stand with you.

Brian McGarry

Rotterdam

Schenectady County Legislator

and candidate for NYS Assembly

It’s coming and we have to be ready for it.

From gunpoliticsny.com

S-9145
AUG 1, 2018 Politics, State Legislation

Follow up to my previous post: Senator Brad Hoylman has introduced a bill S-9145 creating “the offense of unlawful dissemination of instructions for the assembly of a weapon and the sentencing for certain offenses regarding ghost guns.”

07/25/2018
By Don Smith and Tom Reynolds

Over the course of fourteen years, from 1775 to 1789, the US had four forms of government: a king, the Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation and, finally, our Constitution. Each step was an attempt to improve on the previous one. It was a pendulum-like process but it eventually worked.

On a lesser scale, SCOPE has been undergoing the same process. After decades of being a relatively small organization primarily in western NY, it suddenly became a genuinely statewide organization after passage of the SAFE Act in 2013. That growth led to administrative and organizational problems. New leadership was elected to deal with those problems while simultaneously charting a new long term direction that puts more grassroots emphasis on the chapters and committees.

This new emphasis on grassroots’ actions is important because we do our best to work at that level with our locally elected officials. It is important for constituents to be in contact with their legislators on multiple occasions, especially during NY’s legislative session from January to June. SCOPE chapters in the legislator’s home district must open lines of communication which will forge positive and valuable on-going relationships between legislators and SCOPE members. Working through SCOPE will allow common people at the local level to affect the decisions of their representatives. This is a fundamental role for any “grassroots” organization.

Our belief is that putting more emphasis on the chapters and committees will help to invigorate the membership to be more involved, raise SCOPE’s profile, increase membership and make SCOPE more effective. We are seeing signs that this is happening. Last year, we only had six candidates for At Large positions on SCOPE’s board and all were previously involved at the state level. This year we have twelve candidates and half are NOT now involved at the state level. Last year we had one person doing the review of proposed legislation while this year we have three. But there are many other non -board jobs that need doing and we need volunteers from the membership.

Growth and development brings new challenges to be answered. When SCOPE moved from being a small regional to a large statewide organization, it did not adapt its policies and procedures for the changing organizational needs. Officers have a duty to see that members’ dues are used ethically, efficiently and effectively. By -laws and regulations must be followed and not ignored. Officers must be willing to share information openly with the board and the membership; knowledge may be power but that power cannot be hoarded by a few.

These simple directives were not followed over the past few years and problems occurred and administrations changed. We inherited last year’s records that were either incomplete or in complete disarray, which puts an audit of last year in question. However, we are committed to having the first financial audit in SCOPE’s history by ensuring that the current year’s records will allow an audit. Members will know how their dues are being spent. We are also catching up on required government reporting that was not done in the past and is stressing both chapter and state officers. But, it must be done and once completed it will ease future chapter operations. We now have a very active Finance Committee that is putting greater emphasis on protecting SCOPE’s assets and ensuring that these issues never again arise.

The 2A movement has been hampered by the lack of cooperation between organizations. Working together isn’t always easy but having all the gun owners in NY motivated, locally involved and moving in the same direction will produce a force that cannot be ignored. This requires organizations to rise above old issues and recognize that they exist to defend our Constitutional Rights and that goal must neutralize differences that arise. Towards that end, one of the first efforts mutually made was to end the problems between SCOPE and NYS Rifle and Pistol Association and begin working along parallel paths. To that end, we have met success. Both SCOPE and NYSRPA have set aside past differences for the greater good of the 2nd Amendment. SCOPE looks forward to forging new relationships, even if it means overlooking past problems between organizations and individuals in order to defend the 2nd Amendment.

SCOPE is also concerned with the protection of fundamental human rights such as due process, freedom of speech and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures of personal property. Our Articles of Incorporation state that SCOPE is, “…dedicated to the preservation of the United State of America and the Constitution……and particularly Article 2 of the Bill of Rights.” Those opposing the 2nd Amendment are also going after other rights. We must begin to work with our natural allies in the name of protecting all Constitutional Rights. You don’t have to own a gun to be concerned about the erosion of your rights. We must work with “Rights” organizations for a return to what the Constitution originally said and not the one Sotomayer and others wish it had said.

Ronald Reagan defined perfectly that our short term decisions should all still be moving us in our long term direction. No organization operates in a vacuum and current political forces influence our short-term decisions but we must never lose sight of our goals. Extreme anti 2nd Amendment forces like Cuomo, Obama and the mainstream media have dominated the past few years but we may now have an ally in the White House. We must capture this moment by promoting enthusiasm, raising expectations and supporting activism.

Because of the negative political climate we endured, the primary goal of 2A defense organizations has been to counter attacks on the rights of firearms owners. SCOPE was a part of successfully lobbying for the REJECTION of bills sometimes labeled “SAFE Act 2″. Some examples: Safe Storage, Microstamping, Ban of 50 Caliber firearms [including 12 gauge shotguns], Mandatory insurance coverage of $250,000 for gun owners, 18 years old to own a gun, State issued pistol permits, Registration of ALL firearms with $15 fee/gun and annual renewal with $10 fee/gun.

While we won these battles, the enemies will return and the “War On Guns” continues. Although we have not been able to obtain a repeal of the SAFE ACT itself, we continue to remain on the offensive.

All of us in SCOPE need to be laser focused on “what we do”, “how we do it” and “what it costs in time and money” between now and the November 2018 Gubernatorial Election. There are serious issues with which your chapter and state leadership must be engaged. Distractions should not be tolerated. “Cuomo’s Gotta Go” as well as the SAFE Act.

SCOPE Web Site
07/25/2018
By Don Smith
The handgun license you obtained, oh those many years ago, with the recognition that it was valid for your lifetime has now been reduced to a FIVE [5] YEAR permit. NY State now requires “license holders to re-certify their status every five years”. That’s right, you must now RENEW your pistol permit EVERY FIVE [5] YEARS or face revocation [permanent] of the license.

All thanks to Mr. Cuomo and his so-called “S.A.F.E”. Act. This “Act” modified several laws in this state. One of them is the NY PENAL LAW that was amended to RESTRICT Y OUR RIGHTS. How you say? Part (b) was added to Section 10 of the Penal Law. It converted your once life-long pistol permit into a FIVE [5] YEAR permit with the swipe of Cuomo’s pen.

You are now required by law to provide the NY State Police with not only several pieces of your personal data but also an affirmation that you are not prohibited from possessing Y O U R O W N f i r e a r m s [HANDGUNS ONLY]. Better yet, the UNSAFE Act offers the opportunity to complete the form for RE-CERTIFICATION ONLINE at a State Police website.

Let’s see if I have this right: I “certify” myself as NOT being prohibited from owning a handgun in NY State. But why must I report my recertification of myself, by myself, to NY State? Oh, I get it now!! The State wants a database of all handguns! Isn’t this tantamount to a registration of all handguns? History teaches us that registration leads to one thing, confiscation!

Consider these statements:

• Former President Clinton: “Only the police should have handguns.”

• Illinois Rep Schakowsky: “…the Constitution of the United States which does not give the right for any individual to own a handgun…”

• Retired NY Rep Owens: “We have to start with a ban on the manufacturing and import of handguns. From there we register the guns which are currently owned, and follow that with additional bans and acquisitions of handguns and rifles with no sporting purpose.” [Does “acquisitions” remind you of the word “confiscation” used by Gov. Cuomo and others?]

• Nelson Shields, former Chair of The Brady Campaign: “Yes, I’m for an outright ban [on handg u n s a n d a m m u n i – tion]”….”We’ll take one step at a time, and the first is necessarily–given the political realitiesvery modest. We’ll have to start working again to strengthen the law, and then to strengthen the next law and again and again. Our ultimate goal, total control of handguns, is going to take time. The first problem is to slow down production and sales. Next is to get registration. The final problem is to make possession of all handguns and ammunition (with a few exceptions) totally illegal.”

• The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence [www.csgv.org]: “We will never fully solve our nation’s horrific problem of gun violence unless we ban the manufacture and sale of handguns and semiautomatic assault weapons.”

• American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU]: “We urge passage of federal legislation…to prohibit…the private ownership and possession of handguns.”

• Michael Gardner, former President of NBC News: “There is no reason for anyone in this country…to buy, to own, to have, to use a handgun…”

• Janet Reno, former U.S. Attorney General: “The most effective means of fighting crime in the United States is to outlaw the possession of any type of firearm by the civilian populace.”

Remember, the goal of the State is to have as many people re-certify electronically as possible. SO OUR GOAL SHOULD BE TO HAVE THE FEWEST, OR NONE AT ALL, register online. We must ALL RE-CERTIFY on PAPER. Mail the form via CERTIFIED MAIL. This confirms it was both MAILED and RECEIVED. This allows you to comply with the law when you have to, but not before.

It is being suggested as an attractive proposition that we mail the form at the last possible moment… January 29 or 30, 2018. But we need to research this further as Cuomo likes to change the rules after the game has started.

Further research is also needed to determine if we are authorizing the State to access our HIPPA file. If so, then NYS has figured out a way to correct their violation of federal HIPPA law by having the citizen authorize the State’s invasion of privacy.

Recall that on September 20, 2016, representatives of the NY State Police spoke to the Fall Conference of the New York State County Clerk’s Association and made this statement: “The responsibility of the permit holder will be fulfilled when the recertification form is submitted to the State Police. Thus, if a problem arose where recertification was delayed, but submitted before the deadline, licensee is still legal.”

From my friends at the Arbalest Quarrel (7/5/18):

STRATEGIES OF DESTRUCTION: HOW THE NY SAFE ACT EVISCERATES THE SECOND AMENDMENT AND THE RIGHT OF ENJOYMENT IN ONE’S PERSONAL PROPERTY

American citizens who hold dear our sacred Bill of Rights may think that leftists in this Country, and abroad, have placed their goal of destroying the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on the back burner by virtue of the fact that (read more here)

Clip of our very own Albany area Congressman Paul Tonko (NY) as he speaks at a student led anti gun violence protest in Saratoga on June 2nd, 2018.  Footage by Capital District SCOPE.