Category Archives: News opposing

Legislature bans use of Rensselaer County seal in SAFE Act enforcement

The Rensselaer County Legislature is attempting to further distance itself from the New York SAFE Act by recommending that the county seal and any likeness of it not be used in the law’s enforcement.

The Legislature voted 11-6 in favor of the resolution on Tuesday as legislators said barring the use of the seal during enforcement would emphasize it is a state law and not a county one.

“We want residents to have no doubt that if they are receiving any correspondence regarding the NY SAFE Act that it is coming from the state and not the county,” said Thomas Walsh Sr., R-District 3.

The Legislature’s Republican majority has voiced its opposition to the SAFE Act since it was enacted in January; in February, it passed a resolution condemning the law, claiming it is in violation of the second amendment.

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Cattaraugus County Legislature voted unanimously this week to deny the state permission to include the county on its paperwork

Cattaraugus County has become the latest to distance itself from the state’s controversial SAFE Act gun control law, seeking to block the state from using the county name and seal on paperwork related to the recertification of pistol permits called for by the law.

The County Legislature voted unanimously this week to deny the state permission to include the county on its paperwork. The move comes out of concern that state officials plan to have letters sent to pistol permit holders that bear both the state seal and the county seal, in an effort to ease the minds of permit holders, said County Clerk James Griffith.

He said he believes it would increase communication to the County Clerk’s Office about the process, even though his office has nothing to do with the recertification.

County legislators are hopeful that they have blocked the state from a tactic that could result in confusion and create mistrust at the county level.

“It’s false advertising,” one legislator murmured.

“It is my understanding that New York State thought that, by doing this, local gun owners would think the local agency has authority in the recertification process,” County Attorney Tom Brady said. “If they have any other reasons to do this, I have not heard of them.”

According to the language of the SAFE Act, the recertification of pistol permits will be handled by the State Police on a five-year basis.

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Otsego County does not want its official seal used on a New York State Police web site

Otsego County has become one of the first counties in New York to tell the state it does not want its official seal used on a New York State Police web site being created to help gun owners comply with a new mandate that they renew their county-issued pistol permits.

“This would make more work for us,” Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr. told the county Board of Representatives this week before panel voted 13-0, with one abstention, to come against having any county logo or seal on a web site now being set up by state police.

The pistol permit recertification requirement was one of the legs in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s gun-control measure, known as the SAFE Act, which was adopted in Albany last January. Certain features of the law, such as restrictions on the size of ammunition magazines, have proven to be unpopular with some county sheriffs across the state.

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Wyoming County wants no role in SAFE Act

When state officials contact pistol permit holders about recertifications, they won’t be using Wyoming County imagery.

The county’s Board of Supervisors has denied permission for the state to use the county’s name, seal, letterhead or address during the process — or for any other purpose associated with the N.Y. SAFE Act.

“I guess at first it goes back to the county clerk and the sheriff,” said Chairman Douglas Berwanger. “That seal belongs to them when they take office. They do not support the SAFE Act, and each official brought their concerns to the committee.

“(This kind of measure) is not new to New York state,” Berwanger continued. “There are other counties that have done this, so we had that template to follow, and we passed it.”

Under the SAFE Act, handgun owners must now have their pistol permits recertified every five years. The permits were previously effective for a person’s lifetime, barring criminal behavior or similar disqualifiers.

The law has proven highly-controversial, especially in upstate and rural areas. Numerous Board of Supervisors members spoke against it this past February, before passing a resolution stating their opposition.

“Once again, if the state wants to be responsible for the SAFE Act, then they should put their name and seal on it, not Wyoming County’s,” Berwanger said. “ … It gives the impression the county condones the SAFE Act or accepts it, and that’s not the case.”

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Final Orleans County Municipality Passes Resolution

On Monday September 9th, the Lyndonville Village Board became the 14th Orleans County municipality to pass a resolution against the ‘un’SAFE Act. The resolution passed unanimously.

This makes Orleans County the 1st county in New York State to have all municipalities voice their opposition to the SAFE Act by passing a resolution.

This is a great achievement and it is hoped that other counties will soon be able to share the same distinction.

Village of Medina Passes Resolution

On Monday September 9th, the Medina Village Board unanimously passed a resolution against the NY SAFE Act. It is the 13th Orleans County municipality to pass a resolution.

New York American Legion Convention Opens with Resolution on SAFE act

Repeal ‘SAFE’ Act

The delegate body overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging the New York State Legislature to repeal the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act. Hoping to ensure that veterans ceremonies involving weapons were not in violation of the law, the resolution passed with a thundering roar of “ayes.” The resolution claims the gun control act goes too far and violates the Second Amendment Rights of veterans, and also urges police departments to respect veterans rights to own firearms of their choice.

Source: http://www.nylegion.com/2013/07/convention-opens-with-resolutions-top.html

New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services on SAFE act concerns

NYAPRS Note: Concerns continue to be raised with the NY SAFE Act’s mental health reporting requirements. Here are North Country pieces that include concerns raised by Clinton County Community Services Director Sherrie Gillette, BHSN’s Peter Trout, who also serves on NYAPRS’ Executive Committee and by staff from NYAPRS and the Mental Health Empowerment Project.

Mental-Health Agencies Eye New Gun Law
By Felicia Krieg Plattsburth Press-Republican<http://pressrepublican.com/> June 18, 2013

PLATTSBURGH – While local mental-health providers comply with the dictates of New York’s new gun law, some feel serious concern about it.

The NY SAFE Act added section 9.46 to the state’s Mental Hygiene Law, which, as of March 16, made it mandatory that physicians, psychologists, registered nurses and licensed clinical social workers report patients who are “likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others.”

“I’m really concerned that people will become fearful about coming to services or maybe won’t access services … or they may be less forthcoming with clinician,” said Sherrie Gillette, director of community services at Clinton County Mental Heath and Addiction Services.

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Hamburg opposes state gun legislation

Hamburg Town Board members Monday night weighed in on two issues over which they have little control but their bully pulpit: New York State’s SAFE Act gun-control legislation and the proposal to build 128 apartment units off Roundtree Village.

Board members told a standing- room-only audience that spilled into hallways that they are watching developments in the proposal for the apartments and sympathize with Roundtree Village residents. But the parcel is zoned properly, and the Planning Board has the authority to approve or deny the plan.

On gun control, the Town Board called for the suspension of the state law until all aspects of gun control can be examined. The governor signed the controversial gun legislation into law in January after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut last December.

Sheriff Timothy Howard spoke out against the gun-control legislation. He said he opposes the law on the grounds it violates the Second Amendment, and he said there was no input from upstate interests or law enforcement.

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We’re mentioned in an article “Empire State DA: I won’t prosecute Cuomo’s new gun law”

Empire State DA: I won’t prosecute Cuomo’s new gun law

An upstate New York prosecutor told Human Events he will not go after an individual for a misdemeanor violation of the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, signed into law on Jan. 15, in an extraordinary two-minute-drill session of the state’s legislature.

“As I do in all cases, I considered all of the circumstances surrounding the summons,” said Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka.

In determining which charges to prosecute, Czajka said he looks at the seriousness and nature of the crime together with the history of the defendant as well as enumerable other circumstances.  “I determined that it was best to exercise prosecutorial discretion and decline prosecution on the charge of unlawful possession of ammunition device.”

The troopers charged Dean with having nine bullets in the magazine of his firearm, he said. “Under the new law, seven is the maximum.”

The controversy over the SAFE act has not lessoned, said Columbia County resident Evan Hempel.  “There is a certain amount of enthusiasm to undo this law.”

Hempel who is a computer programmer for IBM created a website dedicated to compiling New York Town and County resolutions both for and against the SAFE act.

“To date, 52 out of the 62 counties have entered into resolutions in opposition to the SAFE act,” he said.

“We are keeping people in the loop as election season rolls around,” he said.

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