Andrew Cuomo – LonelyMachines

Dark Day for the Empire State

The New York Assembly has passed the NY SAFE Act of 2013. It’s on its way to Governor Cuomo’s desk, where it will quickly be signed into law.

I have to admit, I thought this was too extreme to pass. I was wrong.

One of the main provisions was that handgun magazine capacity would be limited to 7 rounds for civilians. A 10-round limit is one thing, but a 7-round limit pretty much bans every semiautomatic service pistol in the state. It flies in the face of the Supreme Court’s Heller decision, and I’m astounded to see that passed.

Republican Senator Dean Skelos had this to say on its passage:

It is well-balanced, it protects the Second Amendment. And there is no confiscation of weapons, which was at one time being considered.

So New Yorkers are being spared the indignity of outright confiscation in favor of a simple ban.

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Civil Rights

And Here We Go

It’s one day after Christmas, and we’re off to the races. Carolyn McCarthy is pushing to get her high-capacity magazine ban out of committee, where it’s been wallowing in obscurity since January of 2011. Bobby Rush is trying to revive the Blair Holt gun registration bill, as he’s done every year since 2000.

I don’t give either bill good odds of progressing, but if you’ve got a Representative on the Judiciary Committee, it’s worth dropping them an email. If yours is a Democrat, it’s even more important, since most of those on the committee have a history of supporting gun control.

In other news, Dianne Feinstein is proposing a national buyback program on so-called assault weapons. In case you’re not familiar with the idea, several major cities offer financial incentives for gang members and drug dealers to turn their guns in for gift cards or pittances of cash.

Never mind that those initiatives are a big expense to taxpayers and that they don’t work.

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