By Eric Wolf Schoen
Like you, I hear daily commercials for the Byrna gun that is sold throughout the country. But for some reason the commercials by the likes of Bill O’Reilly and Jeanine Pirro say the gun can’t be shipped to New York and Yonkers.
Yonkers? What? A 14 year old kid can buy it in Walmart in Rockland County but it can’t be shipped to Yonkers or New York City. What did Us poor Yonkersites do?
Let’s start at the beginning. Powered by compressed air (CO2), the Byrna SD shoots .68 caliber round projectiles that can disable a threat from up to 60-feet away. It’s a serious gun for lack of a better word. The key word is disable. It’s not like a regular gun that serious injures people.
Seems like given our world today it is an instrument worth pursuing. But there is one problem. The laws of the city of Yonkers as they are right now now don’t allow it:
§ 74-1License required to sell air guns.
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer to sell or have in his possession any air pistol or air rifle or similar instrument in which the propelling force is a spring or air, except that the sale of such instruments, if accompanied by delivery to a point without the City, and possession for such purpose shall not be unlawful if such person shall have secured an annual license from the Police Commissioner of the City of Yonkers authorizing such sale and possession.
§ 74-2Record of sales.
All persons dealing in such instruments referred to in this chapter shall keep a record showing the name and address of each person purchasing such instrument or instruments, together with the place of delivery, and said record shall be open to inspection during regular business hours by the officers of the Police Department of the City.
§ 74-3Issuance of license.
The Police Commissioner is hereby authorized to issue, in his discretion, upon payment of a license fee in the amount of $10, an annual license authorizing the sale and possession of such instruments for delivery to a point without the City.
§ 74-4Pistol permit; registration; fee.
[Added 1-11-1966 by G.O. No. 1-1966]
The Police Commissioner may also issue a permit for a spring-, gas- or air-operated pistol to any person who holds a current New York State pistol permit. Said pellet gun shall be registered in the same manner as all other pistols, and the cost for said permit shall be $1.
$10 to Allow a Bryna to be sold outside Yonkers to a Yonkers resident. $1 for permit to use it. I guess the Yonkers Councilmembers need to examine these low figures.
Laws on the books prohibiting the use of a Bryna are against the 2nd Amendment. That why the sooner they can the Yonkers City Council and Mayor need to change the laws and allow the device to be sold and used in Yonkers. Like the rest of this country!
I guess my conservative side came out this week. Let’s hope we don’t need to use a Byrna but It’s a good thing to keep us safe in 2025!
Reach Eric Schoen at ewschoen@icloud.com
