FIGHTIN'
WORDS: Self-declared gun nut John Noto protests in Albany over the weekend, as
many gun lovers planned to defy a new law to register weapons.
Assault-rifle
owners statewide are organizing a mass boycott of Gov. Cuomo's new law
mandating they register their weapons, daring officials to "come and take
it away," The Post has learned.
Gun-range
owners and gun-rights advocates are encouraging hundreds of thousands of owners
to defy the law, saying it'd be the largest act of civil disobedience in state
history.
"I've
heard from hundreds of people that they're prepared to defy the law, and that
number will be magnified by the thousands, by the tens of thousands,
when the registration deadline comes,'' said Brian Olesen, president
of the American Shooters Supply, one of the largest gun dealers in the state.
Officials
estimate at least 1 million semiautomatic rifles are owned in the state,
sources said. And come April 15, 2014 - when Cuomo is expected to be running
for re-election - they all have to be registered with the State Police. But
because the rifles have been legal but unregistered until now, authorities
don't know who has them or where they are located.
State
officials will be nervously watching the registration figures to see how
many gun owners comply, sources said.
"I
believe you will have people stepping forward, saying, 'Here I am. See? I have
what you call an assault rifle. Now come and take it away,' '' said a gun-rights
activist and boycott organizer. That's exactly what state officials are worried
about.
"Many
of these assault-rifle owners aren't going to register; we realize that,''
said a Cuomo-administration source who added that officials expect "widespread
violations'' of the new law. Owners who refuse to register could face a class-A
misdemeanor - punishable by up to a year in prison. And an owner's weapon could
also be confiscated, which could be worth several thousands of dollars.
National
Rifle Association President David Keene told The Post yesterday that he wasn't
surprised by the planned boycott. "While
we don't get involved in campaigns to resist the law, I will say this:
Historic experience here and in Canada shows that when you try to force
gun owners into a registration and licensing system, there's usually mass
opposition and mass noncompliance," he said. "I think it's going to
be very difficult for the governor to get mass compliance with this new
law."
Leaders
of some of the state's 300 gun clubs, gun dealers and Second Amendment
organizations are organizing the boycott - and the heaviest interest
is in Suffolk County, the Capital District and the Buffalo region, sources
said.
The
organizers point to a little-known guarantee of gun ownership contained in New
York's own "Civil Rights Law," which was ratified the same year as the
Constitution. The state statute says the
right to keep and bear arms "cannot be infringed"- stronger than the
Second Amendment, which says it "shall not be infringed.''
"They're
saying, 'F--- the governor! F--- Cuomo! We're not going to register our guns,'
and I think they're serious. People are not going to do it. People are going to
resist,'' said State Rifle and Pistol Association
President
Tom King, a member of the NRA board of directors. "They're taking one of
our guaranteed civil rights, and they're taking it away.''
Olesen
said he'll soon launch a nonprofit, to be called Save the Second Amendment
Foundation,' to fight the new law.
Source:
New York Post, fredric.dicker@nypost.com Hit us with your best shot, Andy! By
FREDRIC U. DICKER Last Updated: 4:01 AM, January 21, 2013 Posted: 12:50 AM,
January 21, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment