Author: Curtis

Asking SCOPE members to turn out and vote is like preaching to the choir. That’s true; or at least we hope it is.

A famous writer said that we humans tend to “…remove the organ and demand the function”. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings to be fruitful. In other words, given how little emphasis there has been on civic engagement in these past few decades, why are we surprised that our voting muscles have atrophied?

Whether you need some encouragement yourself to get out and vote or whether you would never miss an opportunity to vote but you know people who would have to be dragged to a polling place kicking and screaming, it may be worth a few minutes looking at some of the reasons why folks don’t turn out to vote in November and what the rest of us can do about it.

A excuse reason heard why gun owners are not registering to vote is that they don’t want to be called for jury duty.

The following are the ways NYS puts together its list of potential jurors (from the state website): “Potential jurors are randomly selected from lists of registered voters, holders of drivers’ licenses or ID’s issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles, New York State income tax filers, recipients of unemployment insurance or family assistance, and from volunteers.” Not registering to vote is not going to save someone from their civic duty of sitting on a jury. Register to vote and then perform another one of the relatively few civic duties we actually have to do—turn out and vote.

Also, we need people on juries who believe that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights should not be tossed out the window. There are more than enough of the other sort as potential jurors out there and we don’t need to cede more territory to the other side, in court or elsewhere, by simply not being there. Picture yourself on trial for a Safe Act violation and all 2A supporters avoided jury duty. 75% of life is just showing up.

2020 is, as we know, a presidential election year and while that generates a lot of interest, in NYS it may also lead to the next reason that people don’t vote: the feeling that their vote doesn’t count. But that may only apply to the presidential election in this coming November. All other lines on the ballot are totally up for grabs and the winner will be the candidate who can get the greatest number of people to turn out and vote for him or her. Many local elections are won by very few votes, usually a half-dozen or fewer, and in some cases by only one vote. It happens more often than you think.

For those elections that are literally closest to where you live—town, village, city, county—people’s individual votes absolutely do matter. Some of those candidates running for local office are on the same page with us (re: the Second Amendment) and some are definitely not. You should know which are which.

More information coming in Part 2

Credit to SCOPE, not me

From Gun Politics New York: There are limited opportunities for 2A advocates to impact races in New York. Decades of gerrymandering districts along with the power of incumbency make it very difficult to influence the outcome of elections, especially for Democrats. These are the races where I believe 2A advocates have a chance to play an important role. Voter turnout in the primaries is always low, especially in the City. Knocking out an antigun incumbent is more likely in these districts where a number of factors come into play including having a well-funded opponent, party disapproval and/or voter displeasure makes them vulnerable. Whether or not the challenger is pro-gun is irrelevant. Incumbents who voted for the SAFE Act, “Red Flag”, etc. must know they will pay a price for supporting gun control at election time.
On June 23, Vote Early and Often.

Assembly District 108 (Troy, Waterford, Cohoes, Watervliet, Green Island Albany, Rensselaer), Vote AGAINST incumbent John McDonald (D)

Albany County District Attorney, Vote AGAINST incumbent David Soares (D)

NYAGV announced they are launching Anger to Advocacy, a new peer-led Youth Over Guns program that will mobilize youth of color to speak out for holistic solutions to our nation’s gun violence epidemic. “This grant will allow us to train aspiring youth activists and empower Black and Brown youth who bear the brunt of structural inequities to be the agents of change needed to take on the dual threat of gun violence and COVID-19. “… “Gun violence is a pandemic in America with no end in sight. We are proud to be working with these grantees and look forward to lifting up their work.”

So Levis is paying to train youth to take your 2nd amendment rights away from you and become the anti-gun zealots of the future. Don’t give Levi’s any of your money. I’m asking gun rights groups to start and expand existing youth programs to expose youth to the reason, purpose and practicality of the Second Amendment! Some SCOPE chapters support school shooting sports groups in their counties. The NRA supports youth shooting leagues too. I know of at least one shooting club that does as well. We need more! Tell me (or post) what you and your groups are doing.

https://www.levistrauss.com/2020/06/04/safer-tomorrow-fund-2020-grantees/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=9d11d4c7-43e6-488d-a176-64da3b500400

On May 15th, Speaker Nancy Pelosi passed a House rule that House Representatives can vote by proxy. She passed this rule even though the founding fathers demanded and expected members of Congress to meet together in person. It has been that way since the first meeting of Congress 231 years ago and has been that way through the yellow fever, the civil war, Spanish Flu, and 9/11. 75 Democrats didn’t bother to show up on May 27th, and voted by proxy, including the Capital District’s very own Paul Tonko.

Please email him and ask him to show up and vote, or leave Congress. If he is too old to show up during the pandemic, he should step down. https://tonko.house.gov/contact/

https://clerkpreview.house.gov/legislative/proxy-letters/116/2/active/Tonko-NY20-20200523.pdf

Credit to Jared at Guns & Gadgets on YouTube for this commentary. It came from him.

Kirsten Gillibrand wants to take 250 million dollars earmarked to help needy people in the next stimulus package and use it for gun violence prevention programs. I consider this despicable and a looting of the american treasury to finance political schemes in a crisis.

Gillibrand said. “The coronavirus outbreak has only amplified the gun violence epidemic in our country and it’s time we implement commonsense solutions to a problem that affects communities across the country. I will continue fighting to keep New Yorkers safe from gun violence as we fight this pandemic.”

Action alert: If you think this is stealing from the public, call Kirsten Gillibrand and tell her so NOW at 202-224-4451 or https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/email-me

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/ny-state-of-politics/2020/05/26/gillibrand-wants-money-for-gun-violence-prevention

Because of the Wuhan virus gun sales boom, New York’s Senator Gillibrand sent a letter to the ATF and FBI looking to change how gun sales are conducted during this sales surge and provide guidance to them. She is joined by 15 other Senators and the letter is penned by clown democrat Senators: Blumenthal (CT) and Markey (MA).

Gillibrand wants the ATF and FBI to change their procedures and:

1) have ATF urge FFLs not to release firearms if the 3 day wait period for delayed gun sales is exceeded, which could potentially result in infinite delays,

2) have the FBI collect data on 3 day delayed sales and report it to congress

3) wants the FBI to retain incomplete background check records past the statutory 90 day limit and retain them until after the government says the Commie virus is over

4) wants the FBI to use the N-DEx portal to disqualify people with incident, case reports, and investigations that are not yet found guilty, and

5) wants the ATF to remind the FFLs to tell people about safe storage and provide a gun lock for each handgun and also recommend that FFLs provide their customers, especially first-time gun buyers, with information about the risks and responsibilities of gun ownership and about safe storage practices.

Markey Gillibrand letter: https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL%20Letter%20to%20FBI_ATF%20On%20Surging%20Gun%20Sales.pdf

ACTION ALERT! Gillibrand is a poor representative of gun owners in her state, but the good news she is ours so you can call or email to complain and to let her know we exist and how wrong she is. Please contact her and tell her you oppose her letter and her stand on second amendment rights. Contact: www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/email-me

From Stephen Williams of the May 6, 2020 Daily Gazette

113th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT — Washington County small business owner and conservative activist Jeremy Messina on Tuesday endorsed Dave Catalfamo for the 113th Assembly District, meaning there will be no Republican primary for the nomination to run against incumbent Democrat Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner of Round Lake.

The 24-year-old Messina decided not submit his qualified petitions to the state Board of Elections, and instead endorsed Catalfamo, who was a top aide to former Gov. George E. Pataki.

“Even though I dropped out of the race, I feel great backing David Catalfamo,” said Messina, who was endorsed by both the Saratoga County and Washington County Republican committees prior to Catalfamo entering the race. “Thank you so much to the Washington County and Saratoga County Republican committees for all your help and support. Together we will build a stronger and better New York. I know Dave will be vital in helping us repair our state!”

“As a small business owner with deep roots in Washington County, I am so grateful for Jeremy’s support,” Catalfamo said. “We have a shared commitment to ensuring our community has a strong voice in Albany to combat the reckless downstate interests that are ignoring our needs.”

The other Republican seeking the nomination was Michael York of Stillwater, who had his nominating petitions invalidated last week by the state Board of Elections after mainstream Republicans filed objections to his petitions. He said on Twitter that he would not endorse Catalfamo, whom be blames for orchestrating the objections to his petitions.

“I wasn’t given any deals, nor would I have accepted any,” he said on Tuesday.

Woerner is seeking her fourth two-year term representing the 113th Assembly District, which includes eastern Saratoga County and most of Washington County.

Catalfamo, 55, who is director of economic development for Oneida County, but has a long history in political consulting and lobbying state government in Albany, as well as high-level posts in the Pataki administration. He and his wife live in the Saratoga County town of Wilton.

From 2004 to 2006 he was director of communications for Pataki, overseeing the governor’s press and communications strategies and serving as a senior adviser to the governor. From 1997 to 2004, he was senior vice president at Empire State Development, Since the Pataki administration, he has worked primarily as a lobbyist and communications consultant in Albany.

Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, Rensselaer County DA Mary Pat Donnelly, Rensselaer County Sheriff Pat Russo and Rensselaer County Chair Mike Stammel Announce 3 Forums on State Criminal Justice Reforms to be Held in Rensselaer County in December.

Criminal justice forums will be held on 3 dates:

Monday, Dec. 9, 6-8 p.m., County Legislature chambers, County Office Bldg., 1600 7th Ave., Troy;

Thursday, Dec. 12, 6-8 p.m., Schaghticoke Town Hall, 290 Skyline Dr., Melrose; and

Wednesday, Dec. 18, 6-8 p.m., Schodack Town Hall, 265 Schuurman Rd.

Stop in and tell them what you think.

From 2nd Amendment Daily News:

Google And Facebook Are Making a Photo Gun Registry Complete With Serial Numbers

edited…

Washington, DC — On Wednesday, The Firearm Blog posted a story that will likely blow most gun owners away. Earlier in the day, Jalopnik, a website for selling cars and car parts posted an article about cars and license plate numbers. Not exactly breaking gun news.
But Jalopnik’s article claimed that if you put in a license plate number into google, it would pull up any images stored of that car or it’s license plate. Google was essentially using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on license plates in Google Images. This made the license plates (and thus the cars) searchable by Google query.

Curious, The Firearm Blog wondered if Google was also using that Optical Character Recognition on the serial numbers of guns. And it turns out, they are. That’s right. Every gun picture uploaded to Google, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter is being automatically scanned using OCR and its serial number is now stored. To prove that this data mining was happening, The Firearm Blog used examples of gun pictuers they had posted to their blogs—and thus of which they had the serial numbers. They typed in the serial numbers and nothing else (no gun make or model, etc) and immediately Google showed them their own blog post with that exact gun in it. Google had read the practically microscopic serial number from off the gun in their blog post and had used that data mining to add the serial number to their database.

Google is archiving these serial numbers and making a collection of every gun that’s ever been uploaded to the internet. Granted, not every picture of every gun will be readable by their software, but the fact remains that they likely have pictures of millions and millions of American guns stored with their serial numbers in this searchable database.

If you put the serial number in quotes in your search, Google is forced to look only for that string of numbers. And it pulled the image up in seconds.

This is basically a ghost registry.

If you’re the kind of person who puts fake info on a grocer store membership card, then you might want to seriously consider blacking out your serial numbers before posting pictures of your guns in any online format, or even reconsider posting them at all.

From The Milford Beacon

An accident during a tactical training game has paralyzed a Milton man.

Darin McMahon, 46, and his brother, Sean, 49, are co-owners of Activ Pest Control in Lewes. Both participate in tactical shooting drills as a hobby.

Please Help Darin’s Go Fund Me Page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/darin-mcmahon?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

“It’s something Darin and I and a group of guys from high school do,” Sean McMahon said. “It’s purely recreational.”

Sean was with Darin September 15 at Threat Assessment & Tactical Solutions Group in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, a drill run by Rockwell Tactical Group, a group they had trained with before.

According to a Facebook post, Rockwell Tactical rented out the location for a private function and was using their own equipment and staff.

“We use firearms that are modified to shoot chalk markers, not live ammo,” Sean said.

Police have not commented on how it happened, but somehow, the unthinkable happened. Darin was shot in the neck with a bullet. He was transported by helicopter to a hospital.

“The prognosis right now is paralysis from the neck down,” Sean said. “The surgeon indicated he may have some control in his shoulders or arms, but most likely not hands or anything below that. We are hopeful.”

Darin is in stable condition. He is sedated and on a ventilator, but according to Sean, he is responding to questions with slight nods.

Darin’s wife, Tiffany McMahon, is a teacher at Rehoboth Elementary School. The couple has two children, Sage, seven, and Cohen, five.

Sean’s wife, Kathy, set up a GoFundMe for her brother-in-law’s family to go toward Tiffany’s travel expenses (to and from the hospital), medical expenses and home modifications.

The community has been generous. By Sept. 24, almost $70,000 had been raised.

“Darin is very well known and liked in the community. There are a million local business people, and people up and down the east coast, that have contributed not only to the GoFundMe but that are offering building services and things of that nature,” Sean said. “I, personally, am overwhelmed.”