DISCUSS NYS SAFE ACT
Supervisor Gott asked Attorney Campbell to discuss the resolution he drafted at the request of the board asking for a repeal of the NYS Safe Act. Attorney Campbell remarked that this issue is of personal interest to him. He based the resolution on constitutional issues and contributed the conclusions to the character of the Livonia Community. He addressed the undue burden that this law places on our municipalities, i.e. unfunded mandates for relicensing, etc. He remarked that most counties in the state have passed similar resolutions, and many state associations support repeal as well. Supervisor Gott asked the board to look over the resolution and they will talk more about it at the end of the meeting.
RESOLUTION 51-2013
OPPOSING THE PROCESS OF ENACTION AND CERTAIN PROVISIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THE NEW YORK SAFE ACT
On motion of Councilmember Grouse seconded by Councilmember English the following resolution was ADOPTED unanimously
Ayes – 5 (Gott, English, Gascon, Grouse, Seelos)
Nays –0
WHEREAS, the right of the people to keep and bear arms is guaranteed as an individual right under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the right of the people to keep and bear arms for defense of life, liberty, and property is regarded as an inalienable right of the people of the Town of Livonia; and
WHEREAS, the lawful ownership of firearms is, and has been, a valued tradition in the Town of Livonia, and the rights protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution are exercised by many of its residents; and
WHEREAS, the people of the Town of Livonia derive economic and environmental benefits from all safe forms of recreation involving firearms, including, but not limited to, hunting and target shooting, while utilizing all types of firearms which are protected under the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, members of the Livonia Town Board, being elected to represent the people of the Town of Livonia, are duly sworn by their oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, being elected by the people of New York State, are duly sworn by their oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the enactment of the NY SAFE Act (Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2013) has engendered significant controversy over both the process by which it was enacted and certain provisions contained within it; and
WHEREAS, since its enactment, more than 75% of the Counties in New York State, dozens of towns and many highly regarded organizations, including the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, New York State Association of County Clerk, and New York State Association of Counties have approved or are working to approve resolutions opposing provisions of the NY SAFE Act and asking for its repeal; and
WHEREAS, it is our understanding that many State Legislators had very little time (in some instances less than an hour) to review the proposed legislation, which contained approximately twenty-five thousand words, before being required to vote on it; and
WHEREAS, having reviewed the legislation and the reported time constraints, it is our conclusion that it is very unlikely that any individual could have read the entire bill and understood its full implications prior to voting on it; and
WHEREAS, our State Legislators most certainly could not have had the time and opportunity to request and receive input from their constituents regarding this matter; and
WHEREAS, seeking and considering such public input is an absolute standard to which we hold ourselves on the Livonia Town Board; and
WHEREAS, the legislation has approximately 60 sections, of which only a handful take effect immediately; and
WHEREAS, there appears to be no legitimate reason for the Governor to have used a message of necessity to bring this bill to vote immediately, bypassing the standard three day maturing process applied to all non-emergency related legislation; and
WHEREAS, the reactionary and poorly conceived process of crafting the NY SAFE Act resulted in complex policy changes, many of which are confusing to the State Legislators who voted on them and the law enforcement officials who are required to enforce and explain them; and
WHEREAS, requiring law-abiding gun owners to verify ownership of certain types of firearms every five years, in addition to registering them on their permits, which now also must be renewed every 5 years, does not increase the safety of the public and is unnecessarily burdensome to County governments and the law abiding residents of New York State; and
WHEREAS, there will be a significant and negative financial impact to Livingston
County due to the large number of pistol permits that will have to be renewed on a regular basis, requiring additional manpower and other resources; and
WHEREAS, this legislation prohibits the sale of firearm magazines with a capacity larger than seven rounds; and
WHEREAS, those firearm magazines with a capacity larger than seven rounds, which are authorized to be retained by existing owners, may only be loaded with seven rounds and eventually must be permanently altered to only accept seven rounds or be disposed of, thus constituting a seizure of legally owned personal property with no provision for compensation; and
WHEREAS, few or no low capacity (7 rounds or less) magazines currently exist for many of the firearms commonly possessed by law-abiding residents of the Town of Livonia; and
WHEREAS, limiting the number of rounds to seven versus ten is arbitrary and capricious, has no correlation to public safety, unfairly burdens law-abiding gun owners, and puts an undue burden on gun manufacturers to retool their manufacturing plants; and
WHEREAS, the only persons who will comply with the new high-capacity magazine ban are law-abiding citizens, leaving the same high-capacity magazines in the hands of those who choose not to obey the law; and
WHEREAS, requiring documentation of all ammunition sales in New York State, as provided for in this legislation, is a significant unfunded mandate on business; and
WHEREAS, the New York State Combined Ballistic Identification System, which wasted $44 million in taxpayer money and resulted in zero convictions, illustrates the propensity of government to waste taxpayer resources when legislation is not properly reviewed; and
WHEREAS, Governor Cuomo has proposed spending $36 million dollars in his 2013-2014 Executive budget for the implementation of the NY SAFE Act at a time when New York State is suffering from significant financial challenges; and
WHEREAS, this legislation severely impacts the possession and use of firearms now employed by the residents of Livonia for defense of life, liberty, and property; and
WHEREAS, this legislation severely impacts the possession and use of firearms now employed for safe forms of recreation including, but not limited to, hunting and target shooting; and
WHEREAS, while there are some areas of the legislation that the Livonia Town Board finds encouraging, such as addressing glaring shortcomings in the mental health system, the strengthening of Kendra’s Law and Mark’s law, as well as privacy protections for certain pistol permit holders, by-and-large, we find the legislation does little more than negatively impact lawful gun ownership; and
WHEREAS, this legislation fails to offer any meaningful solutions to gun violence and places increased burdens where they do not belong, squarely on the backs of law-abiding citizens; and
WHEREAS, this legislation effectively turns countless New York State law-abiding gun owners into criminals; and
WHEREAS, the manner in which this legislation was brought forward for vote in the State Legislature is deeply disturbing to the Livonia Town Board; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Livonia Town Board does hereby oppose, and request the repeal of, any legislation, including the sections within the NY SAFE Act (Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2013), which infringe upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Livonia Town Board considers such laws to be an egregious violation of 2nd Amendment Constitutional Rights, as well as onerous, and burdensome to the citizens and County governments throughout the State, and beyond lawful legislative authority granted to our State representatives; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Livonia Town Board strongly encourages members of the New York State Legislature to hold public hearings to address the issue of gun violence in a way that will produce meaningful results; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Livonia Town Board requests the members of the New York State Senate and Assembly who represent the Town of Livonia and Livingston County to reply, in writing, with their views on, and actions taken, in support of, or opposition to, the NYSAFE Act; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Lt. Governor Robert Duffy, Senator Patrick Gallivan, Assemblyman William Nojay and the New York State Association of Towns.