Conservatives Criticize Assembly Democrats' Votes

that Tread on Second Amendment

Ft. Hamilton Station, NY – "The Assembly Democrats are such elitist zealots in their opposition to the Second Amendment that they will stop at nothing to take away our constitutional rights," said Chairman Long. "Today, it's our legal firearms and the right of small business owners to make an honest living. What's next? A ban on toy pirate swords?"

Assembly Democrats voted on the following anti-Second Amendment and anti-constitutional measures that infringe on the rights of legal gun owners and dealers:

• Imposes stringent record keeping and reporting requirements for lawful gun dealers and forces every dealer to carry insurance coverage against liability (at least $1 million per incident) for damage to property and for injury or death as a result of the lawful sale, delivery, lease or transfer of a firearm.

• Requires microstamping of ammunition which would be as useless as the proven failure of the state's Combined Ballistic Identification System that keeps a record of fired bullets. If implemented, this would cost taxpayers millions in wasted dollars and resources.

• Makes the sale of guns that appear to be toy guns illegal, which may sound good, but will only serve to hurt businesses that lawfully coat rifles with rust protection.

• Prohibits the sale or transfer of a so-called "child operated firearm" to another person. This bill is flawed as no firearm is designed, manufactured or sold with the intention that it be operated by a child. It also improperly places liability on manufacturers of firearms.

• Bans the possession sale or use of 50-caliber weapons which is a clear violation of the Second Amendment.

• Prohibits the possession of armor piercing, frangible (safety bullets) or devastator ammunition which essentially would have the effect of banning all rifle and handgun ammo.

• Requires that any bullet, shell casing or firearm coming into the possession of law enforcement be entered into the Firearms Ballistics Identification Databank. This is wasted effort would cost taxpayers $4 million per year when that money could be better spend on law enforcement needs.

• Repeals the current definition of "assault weapon" and replaces it with a new, overly broad definition that bans many hunting rifles and shotguns.

• Prohibits certain individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms. While the intent of this bill is understandable, there is no mechanism for gun rights to be restored if a mental disability is treated or incorrectly diagnosed or false accusations of domestic violence are later found to be unfounded.

"Assembly Democrats have consistently targeted the legitimate sale and possession of firearms while ignoring the dangerous threat of illegal gun dealers," said Long. "It's been said before and it's worth noting again, guns don't kill people - people kill people. Let's toughen penalties for illegal gun traffickers and the real criminals who prey on innocent victims and stop treading on law-abiding citizens."

Long noted that legislation passed by Assembly Democrats could cause legal firearms sellers, many of whom operate small family-owned establishments, to go out of business due to the hefty expense of paying for these unfunded mandates and sizable fines.

"Today's action represents yet another burden upon taxpayers and legal gun owners and distributors and another strange day in the reign of the Assembly Democrat Majority who seem to legislate in a bubble far-removed from the daily struggles of the hard-working middle class families of our state," said Long.

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