Monthly Archives: March 2013

RESOLUTION NO.40-3/13

RESOLUTION CALLING ON THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE TO ENACT, AND GOVERNOR CUOMO TO SIGN INTO LAW, SUCH LEGISLATION AS SHALL PROTECT THE PRIVACY OF NEW YORK STATE PISTOL LECENSE AND CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT HOLDERS

WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States clearly states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed;” and

WHEREAS, Article XII of the Constitution of the State of New York clearly states, “The defense and protection of the state and of the United States is an obligation of all persons within the state;” and

WHEREAS, the right to privacy of citizens, particularly within the confines of their own homes, is a cherished American tradition growing out from the Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and a right affirmed by the United State Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, The Journal News, a liberal newspaper based in Westchester County, did obtain through Freedom of Information Law filings, the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties, and has demanded the same in Putnam County, and may seek such information anywhere in the State of New York under the same law; and

WHEREAS, said liberal publication, The Journal News, did then use said pistol permit information to create an interactive map of pistol permit owners’ homes; and

WHEREAS, in addition to jeopardizing the privacy of citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights, this also jeopardizes the safety of those citizens who have elected not to exercise their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms by identifying for criminals which households are less likely to resist an invasion; and

WHEREAS, this information has already been utilized by criminals currently incarcerated at the Rockland County Jail, who have taunted guards there by informing them they now know their home addresses, such information having been gleaned from the interactive maps created by The Journal News; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Dennis Sant, County Clerk for Putnam County, having receive the same Freedom of Information Law request, has refused to comply in order to protect his county’s citizens; and

WHEREAS, the Honorable Michael H. Ranzenhofer of Clarence and several colleagues in the Senate did introduce S.2360 during the 2012 session, and the Honorable Gregory R. Ball of Patterson, in Putnam County, did, while serving in the Assembly, did introduce in various years, similar legislation; and

WHEREAS, said legislation was unable to gain passage because the leadership of the New York State Assembly, including Speaker Sheldon Silver, refused to allow it to be acted on in committee; and

WHEREAS, Senator Ball has indicated he will introduce such legislation again this session; and

WHEREAS, it is the right of the citizens of The Town of Yates to take any reasonable measures necessary to be secure in their homes against criminals and other dangerous trespassers; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates does hereby call upon the New York State Legislature to set as a top legislative priority the passage of legislation amending §400 Subdivision 5 of the Penal Law, to make confidential the personal information of pistol permit holders and applicants; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates calls upon the leadership of the New York State Assembly to cease its blocking of such legislation; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Legislature of the County of Orleans calls upon its full delegation to the New York State Assembly to vote in the affirmative on any bill as shall increase protection of the identities of pistol permit holders, except as such protections shall be included with legislation that restricts the Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates does hereby call upon the New York State Senate to vote upon, and pass, such legislation immediately; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Yate calls upon Governor Cuomo to endorse such legislation and sign it into law immediately upon its enactment by the New York State Legislature; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates commends the Honorable Dennis Sant for his execution of his charge, namely protecting the right to privacy of his county’s citizens; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates shall forward copies of this Resolution to Governor Cuomo, Senate Vice President Pro Tem George D. Maziarz; Member of Assembly Steve Hawley; Senate Temporary President Dean G. Skelos, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Thomas W. Libous, Senator Gregory R. Ball, Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer, Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver, Assembly Majority Leader Joseph D. Morelle, Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb, EL Tinker Young, Orleans County Chapter of SCOPE; Orleans County Federation of Sportsmen Clubs; NYSAC; and InterCounty Association of Western New York; and all others deemed necessary and proper.

Offered by Councilman Freeman who moved its adoption.

Seconded by Councilman Bradley

Adopted 4 ayes; 0 nays; 1 absent (Harmer); passed unanimously

RESOLUTION NO.39-3/13

RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE PROCESS OF ENACTMENT AND CERTAIN PROVISIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THE NEW YORK SAFE ACT

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 by the people of the Town of Yates;and

WHEREAS, the lawful ownership of firearms is,and has been a valued tradition in the Town of Yates, and the rights protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution are exercised by many of our residents;and

WHEREAS the people of the Town of Yates 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 available under the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, members of the Town of Yates Town Board being elected to represent people of the Town of Yates 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, it is our understanding that many State Legislators had less than an hour to read the legislation, which contained approximately twenty-five thousand words, before being forced to vote on it; and

WHEREAS, our State Legislators most certainly could not have had the time to request and receive, the input of their constituents regarding this matter; and

WHEREAS, seeking and considering, such public input is a standard to which we hold ourselves in the Town of Yates and;

WHEREAS, this legislation has 60 sections, of which only three take effect immediately and

WHEREAS, in our opinion there was no reason for the Governor to use a message of necessity to bring this bill to vote immediately and bypass the three day maturing process for all legislation; and

WHEREAS, the mishandling of the process in crafting the NY SAFE ACT resulted in complex policy changes, many of which have been left up to interpretation, and are confusing even 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 five years, does not increase the safety of the public and is unnecessarily burdensome to the residents of New York State; and

WHEREAS, there will be a significant financial impact due to the approximately 5,300 Orleans County permits that will have to be renewed requiring additional manpower and computer systems; 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 firearms commonly possessed by law-abiding residents of New York State; and

WHEREAS, limiting the number of rounds to seven verus 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, 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, 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 residents are crying out for tax relief; and

WHEREAS,this legislation severely impacts the possession and use of firearms now employed by the residents of the Town of Yates for defense of life, liberty, and property; and

WHEREAS, this legislation severly impacts the possession and use of firearms now employed for safe forms of recreations including but not limited to, hunting and target shooting; and

WHEREAS, while there are some areas of the legislation that the Town of Yates 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 protection for certain pistol pewrmit 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 Town of Yates law-abiding gun owners into criminals; and

WHEREAS, the manner in which this legislation was brought forward for a vote in the State Legislature is deeply disturbing to the Town of Yates, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates 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 infringes upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates considers such laws to be unnecessary and beyond lawful legislative authority granted to our State representatives; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Yates 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 Town of Yates request the members of the New York State Senate and Assembly who represent all, or part of the Town of Yates to reply in writing, with their views on, and actions taken in support of or opposition to, the NY SAFE ACT, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this Resolution be sent to President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Chris Collins, New York State Senator George Maziarz, Assembly Speaker Shelden Silver, New York State Assembly member, Steve Hawley, InterCounty of Western New York, New York State Association of Towns and all other deemed necessary and proper.

Offered by Councilman Bentley who moved its adoption

Seconded by Councilman Freeman

Adopted. 4 ayes; 0 nays; 1 absent (Harmer); passed unanimously