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 in six weeks state, 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.”
Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville said, “It is important that we work together to get answers to questions that have been asked by all of us. Not one of us has an answer and the deadline for implementation is approaching rapidly. We need answers, guidance and funding to carry this out. I urge all of our residents to call Albany to demand 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.”
