By Dan Murphy
For a long time in New York State, it was very difficult to obtain a concealed carry gun permit. I can remember my dad, a retired NYPD Lieutenant, talk about how tough it was and how that was a GOOD thing, and a way to protect the public, and law enforcement, from armed and dangerous persons.
In June, the United State Supreme Court overturned New York State’s conceal carry permit law, opening up the possibility of thousands of New Yorkers applying to their local county clerks for a license to carry a concealed weapon.
Governor Kathy Hochul and State legislators went back to Albany and passed a new set of gun laws, which included a new concealed weapon license law, all set to begin September 1.
Many gun owners and supporters of the Second Amendment believe that the new laws passed in New York State are unconstitutional, and County Clerks across the state are questioning how they will implement the new laws once they go into effect next month.
Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater, Assemblymen Kevin Byrne and Michael Lawler, and Putnam County Clerk Michael Bartolotti held a press conference last month that questions how the new laws will be enforced on the local level.
The release from the press conference included, “Weeks after Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature rushed to pass new and potentially unconstitutional gun permit measures for New York State, officials in charge of its implementation are saying they lack the guidance necessary to enact it. With the new laws set to go into effect (Sept 1) county and local officials are concerned the lack of answers from New York State will make it impossible to implement and wrecklessly turn law abiding citizens into criminals.”
Matt Slater, Yorktown Supervisor said, “This is typical Albany. Governor Hochul and legislative leaders refuse to engage with stakeholders and choose politics over policy. We saw this with her wreckless attempt to dissolve local zoning in her proposed budget. We saw this with the horrendous cashless bail laws that are making our community’s less safe because law enforcement was ignored. Now law abiding citizens are potentially being turned into criminals because Governor Hochul did not engage stakeholders to implement her rushed plan.”
Putnam County Clerk Michael Bartolotti, who serves as the President of the New York State Association of County Clerks questioned the feasibility of implementation last week. He expalined, “The core issue here is there is zero communication. These requirements are supposed to be passed down by September 1st and we have not heard a thing. This is not about whether we agree with the principles of these laws or not but how to make it work properly so we don’t turn law abiding citizens into criminals overnight.”
New York State Assemblyman Kevin Byrne said, “These laws are making life more difficult for responsible law abiding citizens and also for our county governments. We have questions that have not been answered. There are costs associated with these new requirements and our partners in government deserve answers.”
Assemblyman Mike Lawler, who debated the legislation on the floor of the Assembly said, “Governor Hochul did this for purely political reasons leading up to her primary. The Governor rammed through this bill which I suspect will be deemed unconstitutional. We are seeing a rapid rise in crime and people are scared. They have a right to defend themselves and their families. We should be working together on these issues but we should be going after the criminals using illegal guns to commit crimes. We need to approach this in a common sense and fair way. If the Governor wants to call us back for another extraordinary session she should start with repealing cashless bail and all of the pro-criminal policies her party has put into effect.”
In a recent letter to the editor, Yorktown resident Stuart Friedman writes, and asks – Councilman Sergio Esposito: Please stop selling AR-15 style weapons!
Esposito is the owner of American Arms, a gun store in Yorktown.
Friedman writes, “After the school shooting in Uvalde, and learning about the autopsy reports on the destroyed bodies of those dear, innocent young children, I spent time reading more about the AR-15 and its effect on the human body. When I read that those parents had to provide DNA samples in order to help identify their own children, I was heartbroken and had to understand more.
What I found out is that the AR-15 is basically a weapon of war that was meant to blow humans apart. Eugene Stoner, a Marine Corps veteran, worked on making firearms more effective (i.e., kill better and faster). He developed a firing mechanism for a new kind of lightweight rifle. His efforts led to success when General Willard G. Wyman asked Stoner to modify his rifle to fire a redesigned .223-calibre round weighing roughly a tenth of an ounce.
Based on a recent New Yorker article I found that the AR-15 and AR-15 style weapons, could fire their .223-calibre bullets at nearly three times the speed of sound. The tiny bullets grow unstable much more quickly than other bullets, causing them to tumble through the body, tearing apart tissue and organs. The pressure “can shatter your skull or squeeze brain tissue through your sinuses. It might also fragment inside the body, scattering small pieces of themselves and increasing the damage.”
Stoner sold the manufacturing rights for the AR-15 in 1959. Then the marketing campaigns began. Politicians and firearms manufacturers hyped crime rates, and The National Rifle Association ran ads asking, “Why can’t a policeman be there when you need him?” and “Should you shoot a rapist before he cuts your throat?”
Civilian AR-15 style weapons differ from their military cousins because the Firearm Owners Protection Act bans machine guns. Thus, the AR-15 style weapons have a mechanical block on the trigger, to avoid being labeled a machine gun. But gun manufactures and clever gun enthusiasts have an easy way to bypass this mechanism. This makes it the apparent weapon of choice for mass shootings.
I ask our Town Councilman, Sergio Esposito to stop selling these disgusting weapons. They are not for hunting or target practice. Yorktown citizens didn’t want Vape shops, marijuana shops but certainly don’t need AR15 shops.
There’s no law stopping Councilman Esposito from selling AR-15 style weapons, but if he stopped selling them it would be an indication that he doesn’t support these killings. Who knows where his guns are used?” writes Friedman, who has lived in Yorktown for 39 years, and is active in Temple Beth Am synagogue.
We spoke to Westchester County Clerk Tim Idoni, who said “Every bill and law in New York State impacts us administratively, and there is work to be done to make sure it works. Can it be done? Yes, if we work together. Anytime you get a new bill it takes some time to get the glitches out -but we always get through it and it will be done here.”
