Suffolk Alliance of Sportsmen Inc.
The Voice of Suffolk County Sportsmen and Sportswomen
Gov. Paterson signed the junior, mentored hunting bill A-11033/S-8228. This will allow 12 year olds to trap and to hunt big game, with adult supervision. This is a major gain, for the hunting sports and sportsmen/women, since it will allow younger folks, who have an interest, to develop that interest, before other things come along, as they normally do, in the life of teens.
This law amendment takes effect immediately.
Posted by: “Ken Mathison” kenmat@frontiernet.net kenmat47
Tue May 27, 2008 2:36 pm (PDT)As you should know, Gov. Paterson has announced a gun bill proposal, which, if you believe all the media reports, is a benign minor regulatory effort, to provide mental health data, to the NICS background check system, add training requirements, for a pistol license, plus some safety regulations, for gun shops. I’ve seen the text of this proposed bill and it is far more than benign.
The first six sections deal with mental health data reporting, to comply with federal regulations. Basically, it requires that involuntary commitments, to mental health facilities, be reported, to the NICS system. It does include a relief from disability clause and an appeals process, if relief is denied.
Section 7 expands the CoBIS system, by mandating that law enforcement add crime gun information, to the CoBIS database. This appears to be an attempt to further legitimize a failed system.
Section 8 proposes a number of changes, to Penal Law §400 and is the meat of this bill. Changes include:
1) Mandates statewide training standards, for obtaining a pistol license, similar to what is now law in Westchester County. Adds “Air Force” to the list of military exemptions, for the training requirement.
2) Requires that all employees of a gun seller, who handle firearms, undergo background check and obtain a pistol license, within a specified period.
3) Deletes provisions, for licensing of antique pistols. Adds specific language, authorizing a “sporting, hunting and target shooting” pistol license.
4) Provides that addresses, of license holders, will no longer be public record.
5) Would make a New York City pistol license valid, statewide but not do the same for a State license to be valid in New York City.
6) Provides for updating the purchase coupon system that seems to streamline the process.
7) Authorizes the state police to issue rules and regulations, regarding the safe & secure operation of gun shops and inspection, to insure compliance. It also gives the State Police further powers, to issue regulations, to “prevent firearms, rifles and shotguns from being diverted, from the legal stream of commerce” and does not provide for any public input or oversight, to the establishment of these regulations. Far too much power is proposed to be placed in the hands of non-elected public officials.
Section 9 is where the details are, regarding licensing of gun shop employees. It is overly complicated and restrictive and will just make it difficult for a non pistol license holder to get a job, at a gun shop.Section 10 prohibits duplicate licenses, except by gun dealers, gunsmiths and certain peace officers.
Section 11 pertains to retired State Police officers applying for a pistol license.
As you can see, this bill is far more than some “reasonable” safety regulations.
We will have the complete text of the bill and the sponsor memo posted on our website soon.
Ken Mathison, President, SCOPE, Inc.
The NYS Assembly has passed a microstamping bill. Until recently, there was no belief that the NYS Senate would consider a companion bill.
The current word has it that they Senate MIGHT try to support this bill.
If it passes the Senate, it’s almost guaranteed that the governor will sign it into law, before the ink is dry.
The Republicans are in a weak position, as respects control of the Senate. Some of them see this bill as a chance to gain favor, with the Dems and the anti-gun crowd.
We need to get the word out, to everyone, to write, call, fax and E-mail each of their NYS Senators, making it clear that we do not support this bill.
To contact your NYS Senator and the governor, go to http://www.capwiz.com/nra/state/main/?state=NY&view=myofficials, then insert your home address and name, after which will pop up all the contact info you need.
Many newspapers simply won’t publish letters, to their editors, which they deem politically incorrect [read below] or which do not agree with the liberal-leftist propaganda they’re force-feeding the public.
One woman wrote a great letter, to the editor of The Orange County Register (OCR) which should have been printed, but wasn’t. (Surprised? You shouldn’t be. You really don’t think you’ll ever see anything like this in Newzrag, The NY Slimes, The NY Daily Snooze or any of the other, controlled, ultra-leftist, mass media outlets, do you?) With your help, it will be published, via the Internet.
The author’s husband, David LaBonte, offered these comments: “In response to a series of earlier letters, which the OCR printed, my wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter, to the editor, which the Register didn’t print, so I decided to ‘print’ it myself, by sending it out on the Internet. Please pass it along, if you feel so inclined.”Rosemary LaBonte’s Letter:
“Dear Editor:
Many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan, for one, recently suggested we tear down the Statue of liberty, because the people now in question “aren’t being treated the same” as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry, a century ago.
Maybe we should consult our history books and point out, to people like Mr. Lujan, why today’s America is not willing to accept this new kind of “immigrant,” any longer.
Back in the 1900s, when there was a rush, from all areas of Europe, to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in long lines, in New York, to be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They swore an oath, pledging to uphold the laws of their new homeland and to support it, come what may, in good times and bad.
They made learning English their primary goal, in their new American households. Some even changed their names, to blend in with their newly adopted country.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they brought with them, to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought alongside men whose parents had come straight from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these first-generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans, fighting Hitler, Mussolini and Emperor Hirohito. They were defending the United States of America, as one people.
When we liberated France, no one in those villages was looking for the “French-American,” the “German-American” or the “Irish-American.” The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag, representing one country.
Not one of those immigrant’s heroic sons would have thought about picking up another country’s flag and waving it, to indicate their parents’ country of origin. It would have been a disgrace, to their parents, who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred “the melting pot” into one red, white and blue bowl.
And here we are, in 2006, with a new kind of “immigrant,” who demands the same rights and privileges! Only they want to achieve it by playing by a different set of rules; one that includes entitlement cards and guarantees that they’ll be permitted to remain faithful to their mother country!
I’m sorry; but that’s simply not what being an American is all about. I believe the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island, in the early 1900s, deserve better than that, for all their toil and sacrifice in raising future generations, to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life.
I think they would have been appalled at being used, as an example, by those waving the flags of foreign countries.
As for Mr. Lujan’s suggestion to take down the Statue of Liberty: It happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill, now before Congress (the 2006 “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” bill). I wouldn’t start talking about dismantling the United States just yet!
Many years ago, the Suffolk County Police Department’s handgun licensing bureau was open, on Saturday, from 9am, until noon, to accommodate those who worked a M~F day job, which is most folks. We agreed, several years ago, to switch that to three extra hours, each Thursday evening, for the same folks.
It now seems Suffolk County has decided that, in the interest of saving money, by reducing “non-essential” overtime, the Suffolk County Police Department’s handgun licensing office will no longer be open, for 3 hours, on Thursday evenings, which is the only time that working people can get there, since there are no weekend hours, either.
That leaves folks, who want a handgun license or who need to make an amendment to their license, with only the 9am~5pm, Mon~Fri hours, which is when they’re, also, at work.
Please contact Suffolk County Executive, Steve Levy, protesting this unreasonable change. His phone is (631) 853-4000, his fax is (631) 853-4818 and his E-mail is steve.levy@suffolkcountyny.gov.
President’s/Editor’s Column
from the March, 2008, issue of the SASI NewsletterOops! Mea culpa (again!) In last month’s Newsletter, I mistakenly listed Councilwoman Geraldine Esposito as having cast the Brookhaven Town Board’s single “nay” vote, on Dec. 18th, when the amendment, by then-Councilman Kevin McCarrick, to exempt legal, licensed water fowlers, from the provisions of the town’s “no possession, no discharge, of firearms, on town-owned or town-managed property,” ordinance, was debated. Several calls came in, politely, but pointedly, informing me that Geraldine’s alive and well, thank you, but hasn’t been a councilwoman for several years and that the sole “nay” was cast by Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld, one of the three Democrats on the board.
Sorry ‘bout that. No offense intended. Still, I’ll take some comfort in the validity of the adage, “If you ain’t makin’ mistakes, you ain’t doing nothin’!” I’ve been screwin’ things up, all my life and I fully intend to keep trying to get things right, for as long as possible, despite my abysmal wins-to-losses ratio!
* * * * * * * *
The dust, from the Brookhaven brawl, had barely begun to settle, when a new threat raised its ugly head. A group of elitists, similar, in most respects, to the Mt. Sinai mob, accelerated their drive to make the Flax Pond ecosystem their private preserve, despite the fact that it’s owned by the DEC (read: all the people of NYS!) and managed by Stony Brook University.
It was very clear, very early, in the Jan. 16 meeting (at the DEC’s Bureau of Marine Resources offices, in East Setauket) that true conservation and limited, reasonable, intelligently managed, public use (other than those few, passive activities, of which they approve, mostly for their exclusive use!) isn’t their prime objective, but that a condition far closer to total preservation is their principle objective.
Despite being heavily outnumbered, representatives, from SASI, South Shore Water Fowlers, the NYS Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc., and the DEC, plus numerous, individual, local sportsmen/women, stood their ground and delivered cogent testimony, supporting traditional activities, suitable to the location, by the general public, rather than allowing the site to become a de facto, private preserve, which seems to be the elites’ true goal.
Like their Mt. Sinai counterparts, the high-sounding, eloquent members of Friends of Flax Pond and their supporters, laced their loquacious lamentations with predictions rife with the worst possible consequences, should their proposed draft plan, for the pond, not be adopted, pursuant to their vision.Although the draft plan briefly acknowledges the area’s history, of traditional, outdoor recreational pursuits (hunting, fishing, water fowling and shell fishing, etc., it gave scant indications, if any, that (horrors!) continuing or expanding these activities would be considered appropriate, in their eyes, and be allowed to prevail, in a very limited manner, if at all; a position strongly endorsed by the plan’s supporters.
Not surpisingly, a SASI representative’s comments, near the conclusion of
the evening’s festivities, reminding all present that the Flax Pond’s 146.2 acres belong, not to the Friends, the sportsmen or the area’s moneyed, elitist residents, but to the people of the state, were received, by a round of applause, from the sportsmen/women present. The Friends and their friends maintained a stony-faced silence.
Is it unrealistic that the area be accessible, to everyone, for appropriate, multiple, legal, traditional recreational activities, within reasonable limits, as are all other public facilities? Don’t those relatively few NY citizens, who might desire to enjoy the area’s ambiance, have a right to do so? Why Not? Didn’t all of them pay for it, in one way or another?
(The sporting groups and individuals mentioned, in para 3, of this section, will monitor the situation, very closely, and report, as it develops.)
All the pictures from National Hunting & Fishing Day 2007 are now up for your viewing pleasure. You can find them right here.
Warning: Page is NOT Dial-up friendly.
Clear your calenders in September, the 36th annual Hunting and Fishing Day is coming soon. Visit the events page for more information.
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