Yorktown Republican Councilman Owns and Operates a Gun Store in Town
NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
By Dan Murphy
As elected officials in New York State debated a set of 10 gun control bills, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins commented on the lack of participation from most of the republican members of the State Senate and Assembly.
“You know, people talk about one party rule. Good. If that’s what it takes to confront what we now is a public health crisis in our time, good.” said Stewart-Cousins. “We’re in a place where all of us have to work together to raise the consciousness to understand we’re not coming for anyone’s gun, but after a while the guns are coming for us.”
“Over and over again we think our country will come to that moment of reckoning. But we don’t …what happens when the tears dry? the inevitable: we have another mass shooting”
The frustration that Stewart-Cousins shared is felt by a super-majority of Westchester residents. Groups like Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety supported the 10 bills that NY democrats passes and Governor Kathy Hochul signed, but also supported stricter measures including a ban on the sale of assault weapons.
The other side of the argument comes from the Town of Yorktown, and Councilman Sergio Esposito. Esposito is the owner operator of American Arms, located in the middle of Town.
Last year, when Esposito was a candidate for Town Council, we received letters to the editor asking “Do We Want our Elected Officials Selling Guns?”
After the recent shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas we reprint the same letters at the request of the authors. “Letter to the editor, Do we want our elected officials selling guns? One of the candidates running for town board, Sergio Esposito sells guns and runs a gun business right here in Yorktown. The name of the company is AMERICAN ARMS. This is alarming to me given the amount of school shootings and gun violence across our country. Residents want to know how a gun store contributes to our community? Will Mr. Esposito address this question in the upcoming debate?
“As a Mother concerned about gun violence in our schools, with Sandy Hook being a mere 45 minutes from our town, how could anyone want a gun selling candidate on the Town Board making decisions?” writes Yorktown resident Trish Sullivan-Rothberg.
In another letter to the editor, Yorktown resident Wendy Frank wrote, “Should there be a policy on how far away a gun store should be from any downtown in NY? As you might know Sergio Esposito the gun dealer / council member has a weapons shop in the center of Yorktown. It is not far from the cultural center, museum, track, soccer field, nursery school, empire trailway, and is situated right along the parade route on Commerce Street. Should there be a public list a bit like sex offenders list where local law enforcement agencies release information on where the gun shops are in a town/village/city? Should there be notification to communities of the status of a gun/weapons shop in a community in their downtowns? Maybe on a County level Vedat Gashi & Colin Smith could help initiate this kind of Westchester Policy? Do you want a gun dealer on your main street where you live? “
