Gun Control Changes in the state budget bill  by Tom Reynolds

2022’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA) was passed in response to and in defiance of the U S Supreme Court’s decision in NYSRPA vs Bruen.  Recently enacted NY State budget bills make some changes to the CCIA.  While the changes address some of the “low-hanging-fruit,” they do not address the CCIA’s serious unconstitutional challenges to the U S Supreme Court’s NYSRPA vs Bruen decision. 

Most of the court cases challenging CCIA will probably proceed with no or small changes.  However, NY Attorney General Letitia James is attempting to moot some of those cases, especially those involving houses of worship.  James is not challenging that the CCIA is unconstitutional but that some of the petitioners do not have standing to sue. 

The following is a brief summary of what changed in the new budget:

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for places of worship for “those persons responsible for security at such place of worship.” (See below for more on this)

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for privately held land within a public park.  That privately held land is now excluded from the private park section of the definition of sensitive location.

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for “forest preserve” as defined in subdivision six of section 41 9-0101 of the environmental conservation law is excluded from the definition of a public park as a sensitive location. This effectively excludes parts, but not the entirety, of the Adirondack and Catskill Parks from falling under the public park sensitive location definition.

• Summer camps have a narrow exemption that allows them to maintain and use guns in some circumstances.

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for hunting is expanded and reworded:

“persons while lawfully engaged in taking of wildlife or attempts to take wildlife pursuant to a hunting permit or license issued by the department of environmental conservation, or as otherwise authorized pursuant to the environmental conservation law, and

persons while lawfully engaged in hunter education training, marksmanship practice, marksmanship competition or training, or training in the safe handling and use of firearms, in accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, rules, and regulations.”

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for employees of the revenue control and security departments of the MTA and the NYC transit authority who are authorized to carry a firearm as part of their employment.

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for persons engaged in historical reenactments and motion picture or theatrical productions while in compliance with local, state, and federal law.

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for persons while participating in military ceremonies, funerals, and honor guards.

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for storage or display of antique firearms, rifles or shotguns at museums and historic sites.

• Exemption from Sensitive Location for individuals traveling to or actively competing or training in biathlon, while complying with local, state, and federal law.

• Exemption from Restricted location for hunting for “persons while lawfully engaged in taking of wildlife or attempts to take wildlife pursuant to a hunting permit or license issued by the department of environmental conservation, or as otherwise authorized pursuant to section 11-0707 and 11-0709 of the environmental conservation law.”

• Exemption for Restricted location for employees of the revenue control and security departments of the MTA and the NYC transit authority who are authorized to carry a firearm as part of their employment.

• Police and military exemption for mandatory unload and lock of rifles, shotguns, and firearms when left in a vehicle.

More on New York Church Gun Restrictions.

2022’s CCIA, among other things, banned individuals from carrying firearms in “sensitive locations,” including houses of worship, with the exception of private security.

New York State’s 2023-24 budget amends CCIA.  The new law now allows armed “persons responsible for security at such place(s) of worship.”

Religious advocates and experts argue it does little to protect churches from rising hatred, pointing to vague language in the law that makes it unclear how churches can defend themselves.

In the changes adopted through the governor’s 2024 budget, the term “security guard” is defined as individuals “who have been granted a special armed registration card, while at the location of their employment and during their work hours as such a security guard.”  Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies told the Daily Caller that Hochul’s changes to the CCIA are “vague as to whether that can just be a concealed carry permit holder who is assigned to a security team or whether it has to be a licensed, paid security officer.”

First Liberty Institute (FLI) filed a lawsuit on behalf of His Tabernacle Family Church in New York in 2022 against the CCIA. FLI Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys told the Daily Caller that he believed the recent changes were only made in an attempt to halt any legal repercussions.

The above comments are for educational and discussion purposes only.
Not intended as legal advice.

Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff  by Tom Reynolds

On Memorial Day we honored those that gave their lives to preserve our country and its values.  That included 405,000 in World War 2.  An unanswered question is: how many of those lives were lost because of bad leadership?

The assumption is that when someone reaches the level of general, they have the necessary ability to lead our military.  But according to the NY Times, “…at least 16 of the 155 generals who commanded divisions in combat during the war (WW2) were relieved while in combat.”  (Over 10%.)  And that doesn’t include the more than 600 officers of various ranks forced out in the two years prior to America’s entry into the war when, under Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, the Army did not hesitate to rid itself of those promoted to their level of incompetence.

Since then, the military changed and seems to have adopted the attitude, “There but for the grace of God go I.”  Infrequent firings of general officers are done by the civilian leadership, not by the Army hierarchy.  This puts politics before competence.

Many SCOPE members proudly served in the U S Armed Forces and take seriously our national defense, which brings us to General Mark Milley who is retiring as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Some of the highlights of Milley’s tenure as the highest-ranking officer in the U S military:

According to a CNN report, Milley organized the national security apparatus to monitor and interfere with any orders President Trump may have given to the military.

Also per CNN, Milley secretly called the chief of the Chinese military to assure him that if the U.S. were to attack China, Milley would give the Chinese military advance notice.

Milley presided over the withdrawal from Afghanistan in which billions of dollars in equipment was left to make the Taliban, per Oliver North at the SCOPE banquet, ‘the best armed terrorist organization in the world.’  Not to mention the soldiers needlessly killed in the withdrawal and allies left behind to the Taliban’s ‘mercy.’

Military recruitment has tanked under Milley’s Woke priorities and the mandated vaccine requirements; the latter led to experienced personnel leaving military service rather than take the vaccine.

A Chinese Communist spy balloon traversed the United States, including travelling over secret defense areas, before being shot down.  The balloon’s presence was kept secret from the American public until a civilian reported it.

U S weapons stockpiles are low due to the shipment to Ukraine, which limits our ability to deter China from invading Taiwan.

In spite of the many honors and salutes Milley will receive as he goes-out-the-door, our attitude should be, don’t let the door hit you in the butt as you leave.

So, we can look forward to Joe Biden’s new pick to be Chairman.  Wait…Biden selects the Chairman!  The same guy that picked Kamala Harris for Vice President and Pete Buttigieg for his cabinet.  The same guy that picked Kathleen Hicks to be Deputy Secretary of Defense: (she’s the military strategist whose priority is for the military to convert all its non-tactical vehicles to all electric.) 

Who has Biden nominated to be the next Chairman?

Legal Insurrection says, “Air Force General Charles Q. “C.Q.” Brown, currently the Air Force Chief of Staff, who, on Thursday, President Biden nominated to replace Milley, is even worse, (than Milley) if that can possibly be true.” 

Under General Brown, the Air Force has become the most woke of the major service branches.

Why does Legal Insurrection say that?

During the Black Lives Matter race riots, Brown, a black man, released a video in which he appeared in uniform and took political positions concerning race, something that would have gotten a white officer court martialed.  Brown endorsed Black Lives Matter and subsequently forced ‘racial struggle sessions’ on Air Force officers.

As Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Brown authorized a racist document that establishes “officer quotas set by race and gender”. Brown’s quotas limit the number of white officers to 67% and cut white men down to 43%.  He believes his racist and illegal policy is necessary because “diversity and inclusion” are the “key to the success of any organization.”

I wonder if Brown would impose racial quotas on the NBA?  After all, lack of a meritocracy in pro basketball would not be as damaging to the country as the lack of a meritocracy in the military.   Oh wait, the NBA entertains us and that is much more important than defending the Constitution. (Sarcasm intended.)  

Instead of focusing on war fighting, Brown like Milley is focused on creating a racial divide under the guise of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DIE).  That acronym seems particularly appropriate for the military.

Air Force readiness rates continued to drop even as the service became more diverse.  The Air Force has not hit its aircraft readiness rates and the mission critical rates for fighter jets are catastrophic. In 2022, on Brown’s watch, the F-35A rates fell to 54%. That’s barely 1 in 2 available planes.

General George Marshall would have relieved Brown but President Biden sees someone who prioritizes Biden’s social programs at the expense of military preparedness. 

It’s often said that elections have consequences and we usually refer to federal judicial appointees whose lifetime appointments last well beyond the tenure of the president who nominates them.  The same can be said of senior military officers, even though they do not have lifetime appointments.  The damage done by Milley would take years to offset and if Brown is confirmed…

Fortunately, Brown’s nomination must be approved by the Senate and we need to let the Senate know that the military must be a meritocracy and there is no room at the top for a racist like Brown.

Memorial Day  by Tom Reynolds

I read an article by a man who was in a Nazi death camp as a child.  He remembered that towards the end of the war, the prisoners were deathly afraid that the guards would execute them.  So, when the prisoners were loaded into a box car, they were terrified.

The boy’s father peered through the slats in the side of the car to see what was happening and when he said “there are armed men coming down the road”, there was panic.

But then he said…“It’s the Americans.”

Other than “He is risen,” no three words have ever meant as much to so many people as, “It’s the Americans.” 

On the 40th anniversary of D-Day, Ronald Reagan spoke at Point Du Hoc, which is a cliff on the Normandy coast. On D-Day, U S Army rangers scaled that cliff under murderous fire.  They took great casualties, but they took the cliff.  40 years later, in front of Reagan were the living survivors of those rangers.  Reagan praised them and by extension, all the many victories for freedom that “it’s the Americans” have led.

Reagan said, “Behind me is a monument that symbolizes the daggers, thrust into the top of the cliff by the army rangers.  And in front of me are the men who put them there.”

“You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you.  Yet you risked everything here.  Why? Why did you do it?  What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs?  What inspired all the men of the armies that met here?  We look at you, and somehow we know the answer.  It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.”

“The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next.  It was the deep knowledge – and pray God we have not lost it – that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest.  You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause.  And you were right not to doubt.”

“It’s the Americans” who came on D-Day to Point Du Hoc and the liberation of Europe had begun.

In 1966, French President Charles De Gaulle told U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk that De Gaulle wanted "every American soldier out of France." Rusk replied, "Does that include the dead Americans in the military cemeteries as well?" De Gaulle was silent. 

Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller interrupted his career and was one of the first professional baseball players to enlist immediately after Pearl Harbor.  When he was being honored after coming back in 1945, he said, “The real heroes didn’t come home.”

In the American Revolution, 31,000 soldiers and sailors died.  They died for a country that didn’t exist and they would never see.

In the Civil War, 364,000 Union soldiers and sailors died.  They may have fought to save the Union or to free the slaves, or both, but for whatever reason they fought.  Their sacrifices turned the name United States from a plural into a singular and put us on the road to making “all men are created equal,” a fact.

In World War II, 405,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen died.  As Reagan said, they came “to liberate, not to conquer.” 

In all wars, a total of 1,354,000 Americans have died and another 1,498,000 were wounded.

Remember when we proudly said: “I disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”  That’s what Americans died for.

America was not founded on slavery. The pilgrims and puritans came here for religious freedom.  That’s what Americans died for.

Before our Constitution, people were “servants of the king” - not citizens.  11 score and 14 years ago, that changed.  That’s what Americans died for.

You may remember a hit song from years ago: The Impossible Dream.  It sang about righting the unrightable, bearing the unbearable and fighting the unbeatable.  That’s very inspiring but, if you think about it, who would want to do that?  Right the unrightable?  Bear the unbearable? Fight the unbeatable?   That’s crazy.   But the song also gave a reason to fight: so “My heart will lie peaceful and calm when I’m laid to my rest….and the world will be better for this.” 

Those 1,354,000 Americans who were killed have hearts lying peacefully and calm.  The world was better for them having lived.

It’s a fair statement that everyone now living will eventually be laid to their rest.  Will hearts lie peaceful and calm because they did their duty?   Will the world be better for them having lived? 

America is the last best hope of mankind and worthy of our efforts, past and present, to preserve it.

On Memorial Day, we honor those that gave their lives for our country.  But Lincoln put it best at Gettysburg: “The brave men, living and dead…have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”

There is much to be proud of in our history, but there are now foreign and domestic enemies that would destroy the values, traditions and our very Constitution.  In doing so, they also sully the cherished memory of those we honor. 

We didn’t ask for this fight to preserve what they died for, but it has been thrown upon us by those that don’t learn from history or try to twist it for their own purposes. 

Our founders gave us the structure that made the United States the greatest country in the history of the world - if we can keep it.  It’s our right and our duty to preserve our Constitution against all enemies - foreign and domestic – and in doing so we meaningfully honor those that fell in our nation’s defense.

The same questions echo across the years for all those called to duty in defense of our nation and our values: We didn’t ask for this fight, but if not us… who?  If not now…when?

We must rise to the challenge so generations yet unborn will remember that whenever our country and all of mankind was threatened, it’s the Americans who rose up to defend it.  And the government of the people, by the people and for the people did not perish from the earth.

And those future generations will proudly say the same words I end this: God bless the United States of America and all those who died to preserve that nation.

Pistol Braces  by Tom Reynolds The Biden Administration has mobilized many parts of the federal government for political purposes, not the least of which is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  Following Biden’s anti 2nd Amendment script, the ATF issued a new pistol brace rule that would reclassify millions of pistols equipped with pistol stabilizing devices as short-barreled rifles under the National Firearms Act of 1934. The change would mean millions of Americans could become felons on June 1st (next week) when the window closes to register, destroy, modify, or turn in their firearm equipped with a pistol brace to authorities. The Firearms Policy Coalition is seeking a nationwide injunction against the regulation based on two main issues: The ATF has no authority to make such a regulation because the ATF is sidestepping Congress and making a de facto law at the behest of the White House for political gain. The ATF also is violating the rule of lenity which states that if a law is ambiguous or unclear, it must be interpreted for the defense (the people, not the government). In addition, a resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives disapproving of this rule: JOINT RESOLUTION Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives relating to ‘‘Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces’ ’’.  Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives relating to ‘‘Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces’ ’’ (ATF final rule 2021R–08F), and such rule shall have no force or effect. The bill has almost 200 co sponsors but only four (4) are from New York State: Nick Langworthy, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney, George Santos As one SCOPE member has nicely summed up: ‘BATFE is a corrupt rogue agency of the executive branch which operates as if there were no US Constitution’. Article I. Section 1. of the constitution states: "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress …" The Constitution does not grant to the Congress such powers permitting its delegation of its primary lawful function to the executive branch, let alone abdication to a rogue “political policy instrument” thereof. If the four co-sponsors are your Congressperson, be sure to thank them. If your congressperson is not a co-sponsor, be sure to ask them why not and encourage them (and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand) to vote for this resolution.

NYS Congressional Delegates

Culture Wars  by Tom Reynolds

Legal Insurrection’s web site recently raised an important point about the culture wars being waged. “You may not be interested in culture war, but culture war is interested in you.”  While only briefly mentioned, the culture war includes the war on the 2nd Amendment. 

One commenter described conservatives: “Our descriptor is that of a common-sense-constitutionalists, fearing government yet recognizing that some government is necessary, who basically want the happiness that comes with freedom FROM government.”

That leave-me-alone wisdom was expressed by Supreme Court Justice Brandeis in Olmstead v. US in 1928: ‘The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness…They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred against the government, the right to be let alone—the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.’  (Emphasis added.)

Several commentators aptly summed up the situation (which can easily be applied to the 2nd Amendment) and the eventual conclusion if we do nothing:

“The left never sleeps. They will never, ever leave us alone” 

“Experience has taught that the left has a never-ending list of stupid, freedom-depriving ideas; the left will NEVER leave us alone.

There can be no doubt, when judged by the Left’s words and deeds, they do not believe in American values, culture and our Constitution and their number one non-belief is the 2nd Amendment. 

One commentator quoted John Philpot Curran “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.”   

In other words, you better fight & defend your liberty or all those hard-earned freedoms will be taken without a moment’s notice.

Another commented that it’s not just guns that are caught up in the culture wars, “There is a culture war being waged by progressives against normalcy, decency, and sanity. We don’t have a choice but to fight it…if you’re demanding that I pretend a man is a woman, you are making me complicit in a lie. We don’t have to accept that.”

One commentator hit on a simple truth that we see every day, “When the left has no intelligent argument, the name-calling is always front and center. “

As 2nd Amendment defenders, we often refer to ‘the war on guns.’  But in reality, the war on guns is just a battle in the larger war on our culture, values and Constitution.  There can be no doubt, when judged by the Left’s words and deeds, they are coming to destroy all of them.

SCOPE has often spoken how non-voters are surrendering to the likes of A O-C, Joe Biden and Kathy Hochul and, in effect, saying to them, “Take our country and do with it what you will.”  The Legal Insurrection article paralleled that with the comment, “If you are unwilling to fight against the culture war on truth and sanity being forced upon you, despite your desire to just be left alone, then you have surrendered.”

Gun owners who are Conscientious Objectors in this culture war have, in fact, surrendered.  In the battle over the 2nd Amendment and the war on our culture, they are keeping us from saving our Constitution.  They refuse to get engaged on some self-serving grounds and refuse to believe that the Left will never leave us alone until all our rights – not just the 2nd Amendment – have been sacrificed on the altar of the Left’s quest for power and control.

As one commentator aptly put it: “It is the common fate of the indolent [those who may complain but won’t take action] to see their rights become a prey to the active.”

The odd thing is that we do not yet need our guns to win, we only need to get engaged and vote.

CCIA Changes  by Tom Reynolds

Our friends at GOA-NY sent SCOPE their summary of the state budget items which impact the CCIA.  The changes deal with some of the minor obvious issues with the CCIA but fall well short of dealing with many constitutional issues.

One change has to do with carrying in ‘houses of worship’.  However, it does not deal with the constitutional issue that the state is declaring private property a gun free zone and an owner must take affirmative action in order to carry - and only under the pretext of ‘security’.

It now exempts private property within a public park as a gun free ‘sensitive location’.  Theoretically, if you own a house in a state park you can now carry but if you step or drive off your property into the surrounding park…

GOA-NY tells us:

The Senate and Assembly have finally passed a budget. It has been delivered to the governor and it is commonly understood that the governor will sign the bills. One of the bills, S4005C / A3005C, makes changes to some of the laws put into place by the CCIA. Here is a non-comprehensive overview of the changes. The relevant section is part F (of the bill).

• Exemption from place of worship sensitive location for "those persons responsible for security at such place of worship" [1]

• Privately held land within a public park is excluded from the private park section of the definition of sensitive location.

• The "forest preserve" as defined in subdivision six of section 41 9-0101 of the environmental conservation law is excluded from the definition of public park as a sensitive location. [2] This effectively excludes parts, but not the entirety, of the Adirondack and Catskill Parks from falling under the public park sensitive location definition.

• Summer camps have a narrow exemption that allows them to maintain and use guns in some circumstances.

• Sensitive location exemption for hunting expanded and reworded. "persons while lawfully engaged in taking of wildlife or attempts to take wildlife pursuant to a hunting permit or license issued by the department of environmental conservation, or as otherwise authorized pursuant to the environmental conservation law, and persons while lawfully engaged in hunter education training, marksmanship practice, marksmanship competition or training, or training in the safe handling and use of firearms, in accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, rules, and regulations"

• Sensitive location exemption for employees of the revenue control and security departments of the MTA and the NYC transit authority who are authorized to carry a firearm as part of their employment.

• Sensitive location exemption for persons engaged in historical reenactments and motion picture or theatrical productions while in compliance with local, state, and federal law.

• Sensitive location exemption for persons while participating in military ceremonies, funerals, and honor guards

• Sensitive location exemption for storage or display of antique firearms, rifles or shotguns at museums and historic sites

• Sensitive location exemption for individuals traveling to or actively competing or training in biathlon, while complying with local, state, and federal law.

• Restricted location exemption for hunting. "persons while lawfully engaged in taking of wildlife or attempts to take wildlife pursuant to a hunting permit or license issued by the department of environmental conservation, or as otherwise authorized pursuant to section 11-0707 and 11-0709 of the environmental conservation law"

• Restricted location exemption for employees of the revenue control and security departments of the MTA and the NYC transit authority who are authorized to carry a firearm as part of their employment.

• Police and military exemption for mandatory unload and lock of rifles, shotguns, and firearms when left in a vehicle.

These changes will take effect immediately upon the governor's approval.

It appears that the changes to the body armor regulation contained within the governor's proposed budget did not make it to the final version. It is possible it is contained within another bill that I have not yet come across.

[1] This will affect and may possibly moot Spencer v. Nigrelli, Hardaway v. Nigrelli, and parts of Antonyuk v. Nigrelli, among others.

[2] ENV 41 9-0101 6. The "forest preserve" shall include the lands owned or hereafter acquired by the state within the county of Clinton, except the towns of Altona and Dannemora, and the counties of Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Oneida, Saratoga, Saint Lawrence, Warren, Washington, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan.

The War On Hunting  by Tom Reynolds

Biden's war on hunting continues.

The Biden administration is under fire for regulatory proposals that critics have warned could serve as a backdoor attack on hunting and could lead to more aggressive measures targeting hunting. According to experts and hunting industry officials, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is expected to publish draft hunting guidelines that would substantially curb the type of equipment sportsmen are allowed to use on federal refuge properties. The guidelines are, among other provisions, expected to expand the refuge area where lead ammunition and fishing tackle will be banned.

The background on this is from Fox News*:

A Trump administration rule expanded hunting and fishing on 2.3 million acres across 147 wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries.

 In 2021, (during the Biden administration) The Center for Biological Diversity** sued the federal government over that rule.  Instead of defending the rule, the Biden administration asked the court to delay proceedings in the case.  In November 2022, Biden’s administration agreed to a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity that stipulated the government would take wide ranging steps to protect wildlife "harmed by expanded hunting and fishing" on national wildlife refuges. Under the settlement, the FWS promised to expand lead ammunition prohibitions across various refuges beginning in 2026. 

The Biden administration has since announced in federal filings its intention to prohibit recreational shooting on approximately 94,900 acres of lands managed by the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service.

"This could extend beyond just the National Wildlife Refuge System under Fish and Wildlife Service," said Gabriella Hoffman, a senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum's Center for Energy and Conservation. "I worry it could extend to the Bureau of Land Management,"she told Fox News Digital. "Once they're given a taste of bans, they're going to try to pursue it elsewhere because, again, they view hunters as an obstacle, even though hunters are largely the primary drivers of conservation."

Is Hoffman saying that the ban is only the unspoken first step on a wider ban on hunting and another step to neuter the 2^nd Amendment?  Nah.  Joe Biden would never do something like that.

Not to be outdone, New York State strikes again…

While attention was on the NY State budget, a lead hunting ammo ban bill passed the NYS Assembly (Bill A2084-A).  It prohibits the use of lead ammunition in the taking of wildlife on state-owned land and on land contributing surface water to the New York city water supply.

There is a companion bill in the NYS Senate, S04976-A.  If passed, these bills will take effect January 1, 2025.  The bills state:

Wildlife shall not be taken with the use of lead ammunition on:

wildlife management areas, state forests, forest preserves, state parks or any other state-owned land that is open for hunting;

               and not on

the land area contributing surface water to the New York city water supply.  

"…lead ammunition" shall mean any ammunition that contains one or more percent of lead by weight.

Not that hunters should distrust NY City politicians trying to rule the world from Albany but…what areas contribute surface water to the New York city water supply?

Per the NY Department of Environmental Conservation:  

The NYC watershed is located in Southeastern New York State. Most of the water is provided by precipitation (rain and snow) that falls within the watershed, flows to nearby streams, then is collected within the reservoirs. All of the 19 reservoirs and their major tributaries within the NYC Watershed Program are monitored continuously

Per the NY City Environmental Protection web page:

The watersheds of the three systems cover an area of almost 2,000 square miles, approximately the size of the State of Delaware.

Located in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties, the Croton system has 12 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes.

The Catskill system includes 2 reservoirs…The Catskill watershed is located in parts of Greene, Ulster and Schoharie Counties

The Delaware system, in parts of Delaware, Ulster and Sullivan Counties…includes 4 reservoirs.

Left unmentioned in these descriptions is that several reservoirs are within the Hudson River Basin.  So, does the Hudson River contribute surface water to the New York City water supply?  If it technically doesn’t now, will there be a redefinition at a  later date to include the Hudson River Basin?

And the next step will be: if it is good for NY City, why shouldn’t all municipal water systems and their tributaries also be ‘protected’ from lead ammunition?

The bills’ advocates will say that they do not ban hunting, only hunting with lead ammunition.  Ever noticed how much non-lead ammo is on your local gun store?  Guess what this will do to the price of non-lead ammunition?   

Write or call your State Senator and tell him / her how much you oppose S0496A.

*foxnews.com/politics/bidens-war-hunting-faces-blowback-republicanssportsmen-groups.

**The Center for Biological Diversity is an influential environmental group with assets exceeding $40 million that advocates for stringent federal wildlife protections.

Buy Backs  by Tom Reynolds

The Left likes to do things that make them feel good but accomplish nothing – other than costing the taxpayers more money.  Gun buy backs are one of those things.

On April 21st, the anti-gun reporting organization The Trace reported that gun buy backs accomplished little if anything, other than making leftists feel good.  It said that the statistical results of these buy backs: “…like the number of participants, how many guns were collected, and public awareness” are basically meaningless. 

What about gun buy backs’: “impact on homicides, suicides, and nonfatal shootings and assaults?”

According to the Trace, “The most rigorous studies of gun buyback programs have found little empirical evidence to suggest that they reduce shootings, homicides, or suicides by any significant degree in either the short- or long-term.”

In fact, The Trace thinks they may actually be a negative: “Some researchers and advocates worry that, by briefly acting on the public’s desire for intervention, gun buybacks could be taking attention and resources from other reforms that are more likely to have an impact.”

Which brings us to NY’s Attorney General, Letitia James.  She loves gun buy backs because they allow her to look like she’s doing something about violent crime without actually doing anything.

While SCOPE was having its annual Members’ Meeting this past weekend, James was sponsoring another gun buy back?  Sorry we missed it.

James’ office said that more than 3,000 guns were surrendered at nine buyback locations throughout the state.

One quarter of the firearms (751) were turned over in Syracuse. James said in a statement: "Every gun that we removed out of Syracuse homes and off the streets is a potential tragedy averted and another step in protecting communities throughout New York State."

Since James said, “Every gun that we removed out of Syracuse homes and off the streets is a potential tragedy averted” it is fair to wonder about the potential tragedies that would have been averted if the police and resources working the buy backs were instead actively being used to stop crime.

Syracuse police crime statistics show a 133% jump in homicides in the first four months of this year compared to the same time frame last year.  Can we expect a big drop in those statistics now that 751 guns are off the street?  Can a cow jump over the moon?

It is estimated there are more than 400,000,000 guns in the USA.  Now there are 399, 997,000.

Put another way, James removed .0000075 (8 millionths of 1 percent) of all the guns in the USA. 

Remember The Trace’s earlier statement about these meaningless efforts, “… taking attention and resources from other reforms that are more likely to have an impact.”  I wonder if James is going to do a cost benefit analysis of her efforts.  (Actually, I don’t wonder.)

I also wonder how many criminals, MS13 members, flash robbers, gangbangers, carjackers, etc. turned in their weapons?  (Actually, I don’t wonder about that, either.  That’s another statistic James’ office won’t be publicizing.)

Bear Spray  by Tom Reynolds

Nick Kristof (a CNN contributor) has an op-ed in the New York Times titled, “A Gun in the Home Makes Murder More Likely, Not Less.”

Kristof unequivocally states that in the United States, we suffer from: ”…a mass delusion that a gun in the home makes us safer.”  (Those that attended the Member’s Meeting on Saturday heard speaker and psychiatrist Doctor Robert Young say that ‘it ain’t necessarily so’.)

He uses the terms “delusion” and that it’s our “perceptions of rising crime” to convince us that crime isn’t rising and we are simply being misled (probably misled by the NRA and countless news articles?)

Kristof further states that, “People may choose to have firearms for hunting or target practice or to protect livestock from predators …but given the elevated risk, personal safety is not a good reason to acquire a gun.”  (Emphasis added.)

Oh yeah?  So what is Kristof’s alternative?

“…bear spray instead of a gun.”

He continues, “As a backpacker, I carry bear spray in grizzly country because it’s more effective than a handgun at stopping one of these bears if it charges; the same may be true of stopping a home invader, and certainly the consequences of a mistake aren’t deadly.”

Kristof is obviously not a reader of SCOPE Emails where we point out that, according to numerous studies, guns are used somewhere between 700 thousand and 3 million times a year for defensive purposes.

And then, as one sharp-eyed SCOPE member pointed out, Kristof did not research the laws in NY state.  NYS Penal Law section 265.50 indicates that you can have a pocket size self-defense spray device.  But, NYCRR section 54.3 says that a self-defense spray shall not contain more than 0.7% by total weight Capsaicinoids. 

Bear spray contains a greater amount. (Counter Assault Bear Deterrent is 2.0%)

Oops!

Also notice he uses the term: “..may be true.”  The Left is infamous for inserting may, might, could etc. in a way that makes it sound factual.  And, of course, they never point out that their position: “may not be true.”

As to bear spray being more effective than a gun, there are differences of opinion.

This articles votes for bear spray.

Does Bear Spray Really Work? — CleverHiker | Backpacking Gear Reviews & Tutorial 

This article votes for a gun.

Bear Spray Fails Again in Canadian Bear Attack, Ends with Pet Dog Killed (ammoland.com)

Remember Kristof also said: “..the consequences of a mistake aren’t deadly.”  The holder of a can of Bear Spray that didn’t work may disagree.

So, as usual, the NY Times makes a ‘factual’ sounding statement that should be labelled as maybe.

Then, there is a potential issue with bear spray that also goes unmentioned when the NY Times rages against ‘large capacity magazines’: what if you are being attacked by multiple assailants?

One Day’s News  by Tom Reynolds

A new study showed that birth rates dropped during the COVID epidemic. 

Politically liberal states (and Washington D.C.)  had the lowest fertility rates.

Conservative states had the highest fertility rates.

Brad Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia said, “Heading into COVID, we already saw that fertility was higher in red America than in blue America.”

So, while liberals are fretting over the end of the world, conservatives are “otherwise occupied.”

Unfortunately, conservative gun owners seem to be ‘otherwise occupied’ on election days.  And since women are buying guns in record numbers, we can’t blame just the guys. 

C’mon, give it a break for one day to save your country.

On the same day as the above report, it was noted that the liberal leaders of New York were intentionally ‘controlled burning’ acreage in Steuben County to help preserve the Rattlesnake population.  Apparently, fertility rates in Rattlesnakes are more important to liberals than fertility in liberals.

This highlights a main difference between liberals and conservatives: liberals believe in government assistance for everything while conservatives just want to be left alone as we know what to do.  Which also gives us a clue as to why the liberals want more immigrants in this country.  Given current fertility trends, liberals – like Rattlesnakes - are putting themselves in danger of extinction and need government assistance to reproduce. 

And on the same day, Joe Biden announced that he wants to run again for President in 2024. 

One of his reelection statements was; “Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans.” 

If you were wondering about his commitment to personal freedom, amongst the many ‘personal freedoms’ he wants to ban are: ‘assault weapons’, fossil fuels, gas stoves and non-electric cars.  He categorizes parents speaking at school board meetings as terrorists, not 1^st Amendment freedoms, and his administration works with media companies to label opposition views as misinformation.

In his defense, he does believe that arson, sedition and rioting for liberal causes are freedoms to be protected.  And he is also firmly against government snooping into his family’s business dealings with China, Ukraine, etc.

But it could be worse.  We could be France.

Three people face the possibility of a criminal conviction at the hands of French prosecutors after giving President Emmanuel Macron the middle finger, reports in local media have claimed. It was said to have been given while Macron was touring the country in a desperate attempt to regain public favor in the wake of his pension law changes and the subsequent riots.

With their gesture, the three broke a French law that forbids statements that “affect the personal dignity or the respect owed to a public official.”  They will all face trial in September.  Under the French Criminal Code such an offence carries penalties including a fine of 15,000 euros and up to one year in prison

Let’s go Bran….oops