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RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE PROCESS OF ENACTMENT AND CERTAIN PROVISIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THE NEW YORK SAFE ACT

WHEREAS: The right of the people to keep and bear arms is guaranteed as an individual right under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS: The right of the people to keep and bear arms for defense of life, liberty, and property is regarded as an inalienable right; and

WHEREAS,: The lawful ownership of firearms is, and has been, a valued tradition, and the rights protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution are exercised by many; and

WHEREAS: The people derive economic and environmental benefits from all safe forms of recreation involving firearms, including, but not limited to, hunting and target shooting while utilizing all types of firearms available under the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS: Members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, being elected by the people of New York State, are duly sworn by their oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS: The enactment of the NY SAFE Act (Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2013) has engendered significant controversy over both the process by which it was enacted and certain provisions contained within it; and

WHEREAS: It is our understanding that many State Legislators had less than an hour to read the legislation, which contained approximately twenty-five thousand words, before being forced to vote on it;and

WHEREAS: Having reviewed the legislation and time constraints, it is our conclusion that there is no possible way any individual could have read the entire bill and understood its full implications prior to voting on it; and

WHEREAS: Our State Legislators most certainly could not have had the time to request, and receive,the input of their constituents regarding this matter; and

WHEREAS: Seeking, and considering, such public input is a standard to which we hold ourselves; and

WHEREAS: This legislation has 60 sections, of which only three take effect immediately; and

WHEREAS: In our opinion, there was no reason for the Governor to use a message of necessity to bring this bill to vote immediately and bypass the three day maturing process for all legislation; and

WHEREAS: The mishandling of the process in crafting the NY SAFE Act resulted in complex policy changes, many of which have been left up to interpretation, and are confusing even to the State Legislators who voted on them, and the law enforcement officials who are required to enforce and explain them; and

WHEREAS: Requiring law-abiding gun owners to verify ownership of certain types of firearms every five years, in addition to registering them on their permits, which now also must be renewed every 5 years, does not increase the safety of the public and is unnecessarily burdensome to the residents of New York State;and

WHEREAS: There will be a significant financial impact due to the permits that will have to be renewed requiring additional manpower and computer systems; and

WHEREAS: This legislation prohibits the sale of firearm magazines with a capacity larger than seven rounds; and

WHEREAS: Those firearm magazines with a capacity larger than seven rounds, which are authorized to be retained by existing owners, may only be loaded with seven rounds and eventually must be permanently altered to only accept seven rounds or be disposed of; and

WHEREAS: Few or no low capacity (7 rounds or less) magazines currently exist for many of the firearms commonly possessed by law-abiding residents of New York State; and

WHEREAS: Limiting the number of rounds to seven versus ten is arbitrary and capricious, has no correlation to public safety, unfairly burdens law-abiding gun owners, and puts an undue burden on gunmanufacturers to retool their manufacturing plants; and

FSCCC Safe Act Resolution by Evan Hempel