Stop Digging (continued)  by Tom Reynolds

On Monday SCOPE reported on the saying: If you find yourself in a hole…stop digging. There’s more to say.

New York's biggest budget headaches this year were housing and bail reform that dragged the budget a month past its deadline.

But next year, New York's budget deficit could be the first priority. (What? NY Democrats worried about fiscal responsibility? Have they dug a hole so deep even they must stop digging? Not likely.)

As state spending grows faster than revenues, NY State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, predicted a shortfall of $9.1 Billion next year and $13.4 Billion the following year.

The left-leaning Fiscal Policy Institute suggested dipping into the state's $19.5 Billion in reserves, rather than cutting expenses. In their minds, there must not be any waste in the NY budget to be cut. (They also can’t do basic math since the two year deficits total $22.5 Billion and reserves are only $19.5 Billion. And what happens in year three when the reserves are gone?)

DiNapoli countered that reserves, "…cannot replace fiscal discipline or be relied upon to plug recurring budget gaps." (Ya think!)

DiNapoli lowered his estimates for future tax income because of reduced personal income tax payments, that's partly due a steady exodus of taxpayers, including some of the state's highest earners. (See SCOPE’s comment about Tribeca in our email of August 14th, “Defund and Destroy the police” S.C.O.P.E. Shooters Committee On Political Education - Defund and Destroy the Police.)

Remember the inflation caused by federal spending that Biden claims to have whipped by increased federal spending? Part of that was ‘pandemic relief’ of about $15 Billion which won’t be there anymore.

Perhaps Kathy Hochul and the socialist NY Legislators will look to solving the budget problem the way China solved its youth unemployment problem.

_______________________________________

China is in a hole on youth unemployment. For those 16 to 24, in June, unemployment was officially 21.3% and some believe it is higher, perhaps as much as double when you include those who have stopped looking for work. (What, the Chinese government lie about a statistic!)

But China has a solution.

If you don’t like the numbers…stop counting. China authorities have suspended publication of data on this.

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President Trump has been indicted in Georgia for, basically, denying that he lost the 2020 election. Can we expect Stacy Abrams, who denies she lost the Georgia governor’s election, to also be indicted?

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The U S Army’s Fort Hood is now known as Fort Cavasos. It is named after the Army’s first Hispanic four star general. Which raises two questions: was he promoted on merit or because he was Hispanic? Isn’t naming him because of being Hispanic a form of bias? (Remember the pre-woke days when forts / camps etc. were named after heroic people like Marine Camp Smedley D Butler being named after a Marine who won the Congressional Medal of Honor – twice.)

While the woke forces in Washington D C were busy being…woke, they seem to have forgotten something. Legal Insurrection reported on August 17th about Fort Cavasos that: ‘The base had only two of its 10 major dining options open every day for much of the summer, with three others open only during limited times. The closures forced many soldiers to drive long distances across base, sometimes an hour round trip for their meals.’

‘But not all junior soldiers have vehicles, and the base provides only a limited shuttle service, with none dedicated to dining facilities. The service is so limited that some service members interviewed by Military.com didn’t even know it exists.’

I wonder if retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, ever heard of the saying attributed to both Frederick the Great and Napolean that “An army travels on its stomach.”

You may remember that Milley and his woke counterparts in D C presided over the Afghanistan withdrawal, too.

No one will ever call Milley “the Great” but there was an English king called 'Æthelred the Unready’ who comes to mind.

__________________________________________________

The Wall Street Journal reported that during the last fiscal year, 122 gun dealers had their licenses revoked by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is up from 90 the year before and 27 the year before. During the Trump and Obama presidencies, the number of licenses revoked never exceeded 81.

Anthony Navarro, a gun dealer, said, "This policy is designed to be a backdoor violation of the Second Amendment." (Ya think!)

In the end, this may not work out well for citizen safety and crime prevention, not that that was ever high on the Biden agenda. Peter Forcelli, a retired deputy assistant director at the ATF said, "The gun dealers were our first line of defense against gun trafficking. Why are we now beating an ally into submission?"

Even the current ATF agrees: “Federal Firearms Licensees are often our first line of defense against gun crime and are often a source of critical enforcement information that helps law enforcement identify straw purchasers and disrupt firearms trafficking schemes," ATF Spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua said.

________________________________________________

The problem with the hole that these people are digging is that they will take the rest of us down with them.

If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.  by Tom Reynolds

Assemblyman Phil Palmesano sends us some interesting statistics on paroles, which give us a clue as to why New York State can’t stop digging further into a hole with its crime problem.

From https://doccs.ny.gov/parole-board-dispositions-doccs-facilities-2022

• In 2013, initial parole release rates were 19% for class A violent felonies and 8% for all other legislative violent felonies.

• In 2014, parole release rates were 19% for all initial interviews and 21% for reappearance interviews.

• In 2021, initial parole release rates were 46% for class A1 violent felony (Murder, Kidnapping) and legislative violent felony offenses.

• In 2022, parole release rates were 38.4% for all initial interviews and 37.1% for reappearance interviews.

In the NY legislature’s unending quest to make being convicted of a crime easier on criminals:

Bills have been introduced in the NY Assembly (A2035) and the NY Senate (S2423) that would allow incarcerated individuals who are 55 years and older and who have also already served 15 years in prison to appear before the parole board for potential release, regardless of the crime they committed. (The lesson here gangbangers: don’t murder anyone until you are 40.)

According to bill’s sponsor memo “rearrest rates for older adults released from prison are vanishingly small, particularly for those originally convicted of serious crimes.”

However, that is not what statistics show.

Per http://ww2.nycourts.gov/pretrial-release-data-33136

In NYS (1/1/2020 – 6/30/2022):

• 40,585 offenders over 55 were arrested for a felony or a misdemeanor.

• 10,620 were arrested for a felony.

• 8,326 (78.4%) of those arrested for a felony had either a prior or a pending felony or misdemeanor arrest

• 3,391 (32%) of those arrested for a felony had a prior violent felony conviction.

Assemblyman Palmesano also sends us statistics on youth offenses.

According to DCJS statistics, in 2021:

3,303 16- and 17-year- old Adolescent Offenders arrested for a felony*
257 received a felony conviction.
114 received sentences in excess of one year imprisonment (confined in OCFS facilities)

*Of those felony arrests:

• 112 arrested for homicide;

• 80 arrested for sex offenses;

• 587 arrested for firearms/dangerous weapon offenses;

• 691arrested for robbery;

• 213 arrested for Burglary

• 20 for making a terrorist threat

• as well as over 1,600 additional felony arrests!

Over 83% of Adolescent Offender Cases were removed to Family Court/Probation Intake, escaping criminal liability, entirely!

Since there is no conviction, numerous crimes are being committed that go unreported, further questioning the accuracy of the crime statistics provided by DCJS and OCA.

Banning of Lead Ammunition  by Tom Reynolds

Those who despise the Second Amendment never seem to stop. So far, they have been unable to completely ban firearms, so their latest attack on our Rights involves banning commonly used ammunition.

As GOA warned our members last year, the first step in this process involves the Biden Administration's plans to ban lead ammunition on eight National Wildlife Refuges in the eastern United States. This first round of bans will not take effect until 2026, but it is common knowledge in the nation’s capital that this Administration does not intend to stop with these eight areas.

It is important to note from the onset that this has nothing to do with the 30-year-old ban on the use of lead ammunition for hunting waterfowl, and no major pro-hunting or pro- Second Amendment groups are fighting to change that.

What is at stake now is a complete ban on all lead ammunition for both hunting and recreational shooting on federal lands!

This is at least the third attempt by politicians to ban lead ammunition in the last decade. During the Obama Administration, the Center for Biological Diversity and over 100 anti- hunting and anti-Second Amendment groups petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban lead ammunition, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled the agency lacked the authority to do so. Undeterred, the radical anti- gunners searched for other avenues to push their agenda.

Just before leaving office, Obama’s Interior Department tried to ban lead ammunition on lands managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (about 95 million land acres). However, Trump’s newly confirmed Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, quickly reversed that decision soon after taking office in March 2017.

The anti-gunners have learned from past, failed efforts, so this current effort is more discreet and begins on small acreages where most hunters and recreational shooters will not be impacted or take notice.

Specifically, what the Biden Administration is proposing is a total ban on lead ammunition on this first group of eight federal lands, which, when expanded in the future to other federal lands (about 650 million surface acres or 30% of the United States) will destroy hunting and recreational target shooting by making these sports too costly for the average American.

Proponents of lead ammunition bans claim this ammo harms human health and wildlife populations. However, studies by the Health Departments in a number of states have shown no conclusive evidence of serious illness or death of humans caused by eating game taken with lead ammunition.Most hunters know how to remove meat damaged by lead bullets or shot! In most studies, hunters and their families had lead levels similar to the average American.

When addressing wildlife concerns, lead ban proponents often point to the endangered California condor. California banned lead ammunition in 2007 to protect the condors, and while compliance with the ban was 99% according to the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, follow-up research in recent years has shown lead levels in condors are the same or HIGHER than when the ban was implemented.

Results from the California condor saga tell us that condors are getting lead from sources besides bullets or shot. There are numerous non-ammunition sources of lead in our environment, and the reality is that no studies have proven ammunition-based lead has a population level impact on terrestrial wildlife species.

So, what is really going on here?

The real goal here is to price people out of participation in hunting and shooting sports! It is that simple!

Alternatives to lead ammunition are often 2-4 times more expensive, so banning lead ammo will drastically reduce participation for many Americans. An increased cost would be particularly harmful for women, single parents, and minorities – demographic groups with increasing shooting participation rates in many states.

While the federal government controls over 30% of the land in America, the size of these areas alone does not tell the whole story. Millions of Americans can only hunt or target shoot on federal lands and have no other place to pursue the sports they love. Without access to these federal lands, large percentages of hunters and shooters would be denied recreational opportunities under a costly lead ammo ban.

Moreover, if successful with these bans on federal lands, we can fully expect another effort from anti-Second Amendment forces to institute a lead ammunition ban on private lands at some point in the future! This will effectively send lead ammunition to the dustbin of history!

HOWEVER, THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO NOW TO HELP!

Until August 22, the Federal Government is required to take public comment on the lead ban proposal. Comments will be compiled, and GOA can use these comments to let members of Congress know that the American public does not support these efforts to infringe on our Rights.

All hunters, recreational shooters, and really anyone concerned about this infringement on our liberties can help by sending comments telling the Federal Government that you don’t support efforts to ban common ammunition based on weak science. Take Action Here!

Loser’s Report: Chutkan to Violence to Garland to Insurance to Hochul

by Tom Reynolds

Appointing U.S. Attorney Weiss as special counsel, a man who tried to unethically slide Hunter’s corrupt plea deal past a federal judge, is further evidence of the politization of the Department of Justice under Merrick Garland. In fact, Mr. Weiss should be under investigation for his compromised, sweetheart plea deal for Hunter Biden. 
Given the powerful testimony before Congress by senior IRS investigators that the criminal investigation of Hunter was obstructed by the Justice Department (when Weiss was nominally running the investigation) in order to protect Joe Biden, Weiss is the last person who should be special counsel.

Former President Donald Trump on Monday shared a quote from U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, (appointed by the Obama administration) who is overseeing his 2020 election case.

Chutkan made this quote during last year’s sentencing of Christine Priola. Over January 6 activities

“And the people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty to one man, not to the Constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this county and not to the principles of democracy. It’s blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”

Sounds like liberal justices aren’t exactly blind when it comes to President Trump and his supporters.

On Monday we wrote about Violence Interrupters in NY City.

Let’s try Chicago for more liberal crime fighting efforts.

At least 23 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago, three of them fatally and over 370 people have been killed thus far in 2023.

Native Sons, a group from Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, is asking that gang members pledge to cease fire from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily so no one lives in fear of being shot while going about their day-to-day activities.

Maybe they should also ask that no stores be robbed during that time period.  That would help keep stores open in underserved neighborhoods.

Or they should also ask that no illegal drugs be sold between 9AM and 9 PM, too.  That would save lives, too.

Liberal ideas sound wonderful and give them the satisfaction of saying they are doing something.  Unfortunately, they don’t work.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden which should lead to Biden family finances.

This per the Buffalo News:

A new law took effect on August 1st. When auto insurance is issued, renewed or modified in New York, companies must now add “supplemental spousal liability insurance” to a person’s plan and provide the consumer written notification of the addition.

The background to this is:

When a driver is at fault for a car accident in New York, others who sustain a serious injury generally may sue the potentially negligent driver for damages, including pain and suffering.  But previously, if the spouse of the negligent driver is injured, the injured spouse generally cannot sue their husband or wife and then recover money from their spouse's insurance policy.

The new exception:

If the driver has the “supplemental spousal liability insurance,” the injured spouse may sue their significant other, who was driving, and seek payment from the driver’s insurer for non-economic damages, including pain and suffering. 

Without the supplemental insurance, spouses of negligent drivers do enjoy some protection from auto accidents. Regardless of who’s at fault for an accident, insurance plans in New York are liable for up to $50,000 per person for lost wages or medical bills.  But such minimum “no fault” insurance does not cover lawsuits alleging that a negligent driver has caused non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.

Since this is being added to all insurance policies in NY State, it includes millions of unmarried motorists who would derive no benefit from the extra coverage.

Opting out of this coverage (for instance -  you might want to if you are not married) requires the consumer to be aware of the new law, contact their insurance company and sign a form declining the coverage.

Governor Kathy Hochul had the ability to veto this abortion of a bill but since she is pro abortion… and since the beginning of 2021, the Trial Lawyers Association’s political action committee, LAWPAC, has donated about $1.5 million to state politicians on both sides of the aisle...

Anyway, liberal minds can rest easy that this will be financed by the insurance company which they believe does not get its money from things like higher insurance rates paid by the consumers.  (Sarcasm intended.)

Nearly a third of America’s cities are no longer reporting crime statistics to the FBI.

Per The Marshall Project: Twenty four percent (24%)  of New York State’s police departments sent their crime data to the FBI. Just 141 of the 583 New York police agencies reported data in 2022.

As was pointed out yesterday, New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a package of gun control bills after New York’s restrictive concealed carry laws were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. And now, NY State plans on enforcing ammunition background checks, which cannot be completed by the FBI.

One would think that government officials would want the most complete data possible when making decisions. 

Or not.

Come Into My Parlor Invited the Spider to the Fly  by Tom Reynolds

On August 10^th, SCOPE sent an email to members (Hochul Strikes Again) advising that September 13th was the projected date to begin NY State’s background check system which includes fees of $9 for firearms and $2.50 for ammo.  You can find it on our website at S.C.O.P.E. Shooters Committee On Political Education - Hochul Strikes Again (scopeny2a.org) 

Knowing that Federal Firearm Licensees (FFL) are a key element in protecting the 2nd Amendment, Hochul (and Biden) have started going after FFL’s.  Below is an email of August 11th from attorney Paloma Capanna. 

            __________________________________________________

It appears the NYS Police are starting to roll out their conversion of the federally-licensed dealers in firearms onto their own NYS Police background check system, and that they are launching the ammunition background check system, as well. The target date is Wednesday, September 13, 2023. On that date, NYS-based dealers in firearms will be disconnected from the ATF/FBI NICS system and will be forced to communicate only with the NYS Police for firearms and ammunition background checks.

It also appears the NYS Police today have sent out an email to one or more NYS-located dealers to tell them to register (in)to their (NYS’s) system as part of a test group of selected dealers.

Among those “selected” are one or more of my clients from among the named Plaintiffs in the federal civil rights case of Gazzola v. Hochul.  As I write this blog, there are five cases, including Gazzola, waiting since March 20, 2023 for an appeals’ request for a stay of execution of a list of new 2022 laws challenged as (either) unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, federally pre-empted, or otherwise violating other civil rights such as the Fifth Amendment.

Among the requested items (in the appeal) is precisely this: a stay of the ammunition background check system, a stay of the semi-automatic license requirement, a stay against NYSP taking over the background check system, and a stay against dealer inspections by the NYSP.

Rumors had started to circulate across the past 1-2 weeks. Then, there was a drop-in to a dealer by the NYSP in the North Country. Then, there was an email from the National Shooting Sports Foundation that they were on a “call” with the NYSP and they were transmitting some bullet points. Then, the NYSP showed up at one of my client’s shops and started asking for help deciphering the new statutes, saying that the NYSP Joint Terrorism Task Force (“JTTF”) had received an email directing them to start the dealer inspections, but NYSP-JTTF had received no training and don’t know how to do an inspection.

Whether these couple NYSP officers are whistleblower(s) or playing dumb during an investigation, I don’t yet know. I transmitted a pointed letter to opposing counsel at the NYS AG’s Office this morning to try to get some answers. Nothing yet.

At about 1 pm this afternoon, one of my clients then received an email signed from “Angie” that he’s “selected” to participate in the trial of the new NYSP background check system. A scam? An AI joke? Conduct for which I could seek judicial sanctions?

So, in a rare blog, I put this out to alert you and ask you to forward this to all dealers you know. If anyone else has received the “drop-by” or the “invitation” or was otherwise on the “call,” please have them get in touch with me paloma@2AMPatriot.com or send me a note through the contact page of my website.

It appears this whole breaking of the détente, at least while awaiting the Second Circuit decision, is because Gov. Hochul got shamed by the Democratic Party for costing them seats in the House in 2022, because she wasn’t sufficiently tough on crime. In fact, U.S. News & World Report wrote a lengthy article about it, complete with quotes from defendants in our lawsuit. It’s not the only press coverage.

Tough on crime? This is the same B.S. the Governor dished out last summer through her 10-bill package. Has she not noticed those statutes are the focus of eight federal civil rights lawsuits, filed by more than 100 plaintiffs, represented by more than a dozen private law firms from Washington, D.C. to Mississippi.

Too afraid to go after the real criminals is more like it. She’s bullying law-abiding, federally-licensed, NYS-licensed dealers in firearms, who are the front line against illegal gun sales. It is because the industry doesn’t sell to those persons disqualified at federal law that those bad actors take to the streets to steal and then modify and mutilate guns to commit the same crimes that got them disqualified in the first place.

Hochul is 180-degrees wrong in her approach. If she really wanted to do something about crime in New York, she could start by transmitting records of NYS-convicted criminals to the FBI for the nationwide NICS database to help federal authorities keep guns out of the hands of career gun criminals. But, no, Hochul proudly stands at the public microphone and says she won’t turn over those records.

No, the new law says and the state admits, she wants to build a single database of gun owners in New York.

These brave men and women who are your NYS dealers in firearms who are the Plaintiffs in Gazzola v. Hochul are the only people who stand between your privacy and your Second Amendment rights to purchase, to possess, and “to keep” your firearms and ammunition. Of course, she’s coming after them first. If Hochul can shut down FFL dealers in firearms, she can cut off your Second Amendment rights.

Again, if you can assist in getting the word out to the 1,791 FFL dealers and pawn brokers across the state, please do so ASAP. We need to try to measure this NYSP “invitation” and “ignorance” against whether it is NYSP conduct designed to target and threaten my clients.

Thank you for your assistance.

NY State Ammo Background Check set to begin September 13, 2023

A new date has been set for implementation of a background check when purchasing ammunition in NY State. The check was part of the Concealed Carry Improvement Act passed on July 1, 2022 following the Supreme Court’s decision favoring gun owners in the New York State Rifle Association v. Bruen case decided in June. 

This ‘start date’ has been bumped up multiple times since it original implementation date of September 1, 2022. It remains to be seen if it materializes this September.

A requirement for “sellers of ammunition” to maintain a record of all Ammo sales actually went into effect September 1, 2022.  A database to allow State Police to perform background checks on all gun and ammo sales was promised by NY when the so-called “safe” act was passed in January 2013. The state expected the FBI to permit usage of its NICS system but this was rejected by the FBI. Subsequently NY has not been able to develop its own database for such purposes. Nor has it had the manpower to operate the system. 

Realize that there are two facets to the new regulations. First is the involvement of the State Police as a “middleman” for the purchase of a gun. FFL’s will no longer contact the FBI directly through it’s NICS check system. A gun dealer must go through the State Police. A new fee of $9.00 will be paid by the gun purchaser. There is no indication as to whether the process will be prolonged as a result of involving the State Police. 

The second aspect of the new law requires a background check for the sale of all ammunition. Each transaction carries a new fee of $2.50 to the state. There is not expected to be a limit on the number of rounds of ammo a person can buy with each transaction. 

It has been reported that a purchaser must provide, not just the customer's name, address, date of birth, and type and quantity of ammunition, but also their occupation.

This leads one to believe that the intent is to allow for the purchase of ammunition that exactly matches the guns owned by the customer. But this would require the state to force us to disclose the caliber of each gun we own. Presently this could only apply to guns requiring a permit, handguns or so-called “assault weapons”. 

Such an ammo background database was never funded and was even suspended in 2015 by a “Memorandum of Understanding”. But it was never signed by Democratic leadership and remains in limbo. The funding remains a critical roadblock.

Defund and Destroy the Police  by Tom Reynolds

Remember ‘Defund the police’ - which came to include ‘Don’t support the police since they are white supremacist racists?’  How has that worked out?

In the 1990s, NY City Mayor Rudy Giuliani warned that “Petty crimes” such as vandalism, graffiti, burglary, public begging, squatting, illegal drug use, prostitution, filth, when not dealt with promptly and appropriately, quickly digress into out-of-control major crimes. Under Giuliani, NYCity was the safest big city in America and people wanted to live there

Giuliani was ridiculed and condemned by Democrats and the media as, among other things, a racist.

Since Giuliani, and with a succession of leftist mayors, New York City has grown more crime filled. 

To answer the crime problem, instead of more police, NY City now has “Violence Interrupters”; former gang members and people who have ‘experienced’ the criminal justice system acting as Violence Interrupters to try and stop shootings before they occur or to respond to the scenes of shootings to prevent retaliation.  (‘Experienced the criminal justice system’ is the leftist way of saying they were criminals.  What could go wrong?)

This is what!

Michael Rodriguez is a director of “Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence,” which is part of Mayor Eric Adams’ Violence Interrupter” plan.  He lives in Westchester, not in the Bronx!  He was arrested as a part of a narcotics trafficking network; officials say they found in his home over 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, $165,509 in currency, scales, a money counter, a vacuum sealer, digital scales and jewelry estimated to have a value of approximately $50,000.

Oh yeah, they also found an unlicensed Ruger .380 caliber pistol and an unlicensed Bond Arms .357 caliber handgun.  Isn’t it interesting that criminals are armed but ordinary citizens of NY City are not, which makes the citizens into “prey.” 

The violence interrupter model started in 1995 in Chicago.  (What a success story to build upon!) The program’s most ardent supporters say it is ‘promising.’

Some disagree.  The New York Post’s editorial board stated, “NYC needs cops, not violence interrupters.” Pointing to the city’s crime statistics – total felonies are up by 39% since 2021 and murders are now 40% above 2019 levels – it describes government outreach to such groups as an empty political gesture, one that is “less than useless for actual public safety” given that the “available statistical evidence to date suggests ‘interruption’ programs do very little, if anything, to drive down crime rates.”

In July, NY City Mayor Eric Adams said, “…crime is down across the city year to date, and our numbers continue to trend in the right direction.” 

The Mark Twain saying, “Figure don’t lie but liars can figure” seems to be true, since somebody has to be wrong. 

What’s the truth? 

People vote with their feet and NY City residents, especially the high earners have been fleeing the city.  Leftist Bloomberg puts a positive spin on outmigration from NYC.  They point out that it’s not as bad as it was; annual outmigration dropped from 300,000 to 200,000.

In 2020, Reuters reported that, “In Tribeca, a wealthy neighborhood in downtown Manhattan, residents who left this year earned an average income of about $140,000…The typical person moving into the neighborhood earned an average $82,000.”

Now there’s an economic plan doomed to failure.  Something which should sound familiar to all New Yorkers.

Why are they leaving the “Big Apple”.  Could crime have something to do with it?  Soros funded prosecutors are the anti-Giuliani’s as they don’t prosecute lower-level crime.

Police are leaving their jobs for lack of support.  “Urban flight’ was once used to describe the move to the suburbs but could now describe law enforcement officers fleeing big cities.  It doesn’t just happen in NY City.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore is reporting that LAPD’s complement of sworn officers has now dropped below 9,000 officers.  The Los Angeles City budget calls for 9,300 sworn officers (down from a high of 9,900 in 2010). 

This means that when you call the police in LA for anything short of a life-threatening, forcible felony in progress, they’re not coming!  The operator will curtly tell you to go to their web page and “file a report online.”

Ah, but count on another liberal stronghold, Illinois, to solve the police shortage problem.

A new bill allowing eligible non-U.S. citizens in Illinois to become police officers was signed into law by Governor J. B. Pritzker.  The bill, which will come into force on January 1, 2024, allows eligible immigrants who are not U.S. citizens to join law enforcement in Illinois.

Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert said, "People who are breaking the law by their presence here can now arrest American citizens. You know the other blue states are watching and getting ready to implement this idea as soon as they can!"

Illinois Republican Mary Miller tweeted: "No sane state would allow foreign nationals to arrest their citizens!"  (She is right, no SANE state would allow it.)

The bill was also denounced by the Fraternal Order of Police, an organization consisting of law enforcement officers nationwide. "This is a potential crisis of confidence in law enforcement at a time when our officers need all the public confidence they can get."

The bill's description on the Illinois General Assembly's website says, “an individual who is not a citizen but is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law is authorized to apply for the position of police officers."  Eligible non-U.S. citizens, “must be able to obtain, carry, purchase, or otherwise possess a firearm under federal law.”

Foreign nationals "against whom the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have deferred immigration action under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process" will also be eligible, according to the bill's text.

If an active duty police officer were to break the law, they would probably be suspended from duty until the case was resolved and eventually fired if convicted of the crime.  But someone who broke the law in getting into the country need not worry about such legal issues.

Of course, all these solutions ignore one of the most obvious solutions, let the citizens be armed to protect themselves.  Which is, I’m pretty sure, a protected right under one of those pecky constitutional amendments.

What gender is a computer?  by Tom Reynolds With all the controversy of gender, we should remember that we often give inanimate objects a gender: ships; countries; etc. But computers have not yet been given a gender. So, what gender is a computer? A comedienne offered this answer. Men believe computers are feminine. Why? Because no one but their Creator understands their internal logic. When computers speak to each other, they speak in a code language that only they and experts can understand. Every mistake you make is stored on their hard drive for later retrieval. As soon as you commit to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck accessorizing it. Women believe computers are masculine. Why? In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on. They have a lot of data but can’t think for themselves. They are supposed t help you solve problems but half the time they are the problem. As soon as you commit to one you realize that, if you had waited longer, you could have gotten a better model. Remember when we could tease each other without committing a microaggression? Remember the commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. There is a little known addendum to that commandment: it does not apply to computers. No one will go to Hell for swearing at a computer.

Hochul Strikes Again  by Tom Reynolds

Our friends at GOA-NY sent us a copy of an email from 2A Attorney Paloma Capanna which should be of interest to all New York gun owners.

The New York State Police held a call to discuss the changes that will impact retailers across the state as New York transitions to being a ‘point of contact state’; that is, the state police will be the initial contact/ clearing house for all background checks for firearms and ammunition. The FBI will stop all connections with Federal Firearms Licensees in New York State once the NYS Police becomes the Point of Contact.

All NYS Firearms and Ammunition Dealers can start to register under the new system beginning on August 16th, even though they are already registered as a Federal Firearms Licensee.  Each user (administrators and store employees) will need an NY.gov business account.

The targeted date for the NYS Police to take over processing NICS applications is Wednesday, September 13th. 

The new background check fee for firearms will be $9 and for ammunition will be $2.50; they will begin on that date.  

The state police will be the intermediary for all firearms transactions as background checks will go to NYSP and NYSP will, then, contact NICS.  NICS checks are free so, to use a Mafia phrase, NY State gets to ‘wet its beak’ into an otherwise free transaction.

The anti-2A New York bureaucracy is inserting itself into a proven process. There was no concrete information given concerning how the new system will function, recourse for when it fails, an appeals process or the inevitable delays retailers will experience.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for instance…

The state police said that there could be situations where someone could pass a background check for a firearm but fail for the ammunition. (Their explanation was that for ammunition they might check more records in state.)  Welcome to New York’s bureaucratic world.

Live operators will only be available to help with technical assistance, they will not have the ability to enter NICS applications on behalf of the business.  So much for customer service!

For those of us who live close to the Pennsylvania border, it would probably not be financially worthwhile to make a special trip in order to buy ammo, gas price being what it is.  Unless for spite.  But if we happen to be in Pennsylvania…it’s just another jolt to New York’s staggering economy.

Did anyone in Hochul’s ‘brain trust’ figure out that if one fails the ammo test, it becomes a short road trip to PA in order to get around this restriction?  Remember what happened when there were ‘dry counties’ in New York?  (At least drivers buying ammo will be sober.)

An important reminder: NY’s Income tax form IT-201 line 59 (Sales and Use Tax).  If you buy an item in another state that would be taxable in New York and bring it across state lines, you need to pay NY Sales and Use tax on it.  (SCOPE is just being a good citizen in reminding you of this even though we are sure no SCOPE members would ever dream of shorting NY State on this!)

NY State Proposed Firearm Legislation

The current NY Legislature is in office for 2023 and 2024. Any proposed bills introduced in 2023, but not approved or rejected, are automatically carried over into 2024. If those bills are not acted on in 2024, they are dead and must be reintroduced as a new bill, with a new number, in 2025. Below is a list of bills concerning firearms that were introduced in 2023 and are still alive. (There are probably more!) Some bills have ’companion’ bills introduced in both the Senate and the Assembly and they are noted.

You can find more information on these bills on LEGISCAN.com

They are also listed on the SCOPE website: NYS Legislation

A04140

Includes certain violations involving the use of a machine-gun, firearm silencer, firearm, rifle, shotgun, disguised gun, ghost gun or assault weapon as qualifying offenses for the purpose of imposing bail.

A05884/S05628

Establishes a private cause of action for certain violations regarding machine-guns, assault weapons, disguised guns, ghost guns, and unfinished frames or receivers.

A01503

Includes offenses involving the possession, display or discharge of a firearm, rifle, shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun as qualifying offenses for the purpose of allowing a principal to be eligible to be held on bail.

S00248

Relates to gun buyback programs; requires entities operating such programs to check the serial number of all firearms obtained against the NYSPIN records and to obtain the express permission of the lawful owner of any firearm found to be stolen before the destruction thereof.

A03995

Authorizes the court the discretion to release persons charged with certain crimes involving possession of a firearm on their own recognizance or under non-monetary conditions, fix bail, or commit the person to the custody of the sheriff.

S02978

Relates to prohibiting the possession of certain 50 caliber firearms; directs the division of state police to embark on a program whereby persons currently in lawful possession of such weapons may be reimbursed for the fair market value thereof upon.

A07885/S01701

Requires persons possessing any firearm to hold a firearms safety certificate; establishes application and training process therefor; makes technical corrections.

A07489/S07364

Relates to the regulation of three-dimensional printed firearms; provides that a person who intentionally sells, distributes, or disposes of a three-dimensional printed firearm is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

A05380

Enacts the "children's weapon accident prevention act"; creates crimes of failure to store a weapon safely in the first and second degrees, aggravated failure to store a weapon safely, and criminally negligent storage of a weapon in the first and second degrees; provides affirmative defenses; directs the commissioner of education to develop a weapons safety program.

A00829/S00430

Prohibits the possession and use of live ammunition at a film production facility or a qualified film production facility; requires all persons employed or present at a film production facility or a qualified film production facility to receive proper training on the safe use, handling, storage and transportation of firearms.

A01566/S00930

Restricts the sale of ammunition to only individuals authorized to possess such weapon; creates the no-gun database under the division of criminal justice services.

A06193

Relates to suspension and revocation of firearms licenses; relates to private sale or

disposal of firearms, rifles or shotguns; establishes a minimum age to possess a firearm relating to gun control.

A05834

Prohibits gun industry members from marketing firearms and firearm related products to minors; establishes a private right of action for violations.

A00754

Prohibits entry to gun shows to anyone under twelve years of age.

A00442

Establishes the offense of unlawful possession of firearms by persons under twenty-one.

A04225

Increases penalties for criminal use of a firearm in the first degree when committing a drug related felony offense.

A02572/S00632

Requires the division of criminal justice services to establish and maintain a database of information relating to the sale or use of microstamped guns in the state and to promulgate regulations regarding the provision of information pertaining to the sale, use or delivery of such guns within the state.

A04236/S05919

Relates to establishing the civil rights restoration act; amends provisions regarding firearm licenses and destruction of firearms; exempts certain individuals from providing photographs in order to obtain a firearm license; expands the definition of immediate family.

A06141

Establishes the crimes of carjacking in first, second and third degrees, as the stealing of a motor vehicle from a person or presence of another person through the use or threatened use of force; increases penalties for causing injury to such victim, displaying a real or fake gun or using such a weapon; provides that all carjackings are violent felony offenses.

A02684

Expands juvenile offender status to include rape in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree, aggravated sexual abuse in the second degree and aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree if committed by persons thirteen, fourteen or fifteen years of age.

S04657

Establishes the class A-I felony of criminal use of a firearm for possessing a deadly weapon or displaying what appears to be or is a rifle, pistol, revolver, shotgun, machine gun or other firearm during the commission of a class A or violent felony; repeals the offenses of criminal use of a firearm in the first or second degrees.

A01892

Provides for the posting of firearm signage in areas in which the rate of gun violence is above the national average.

A02413/S02102

Requires police officers to take temporary custody of firearms for not less than one hundred twenty hours when responding to reports of family violence.

S00696

Removes the prohibition on firearm silencers.

S03420

Relates to criminal penalties for possession, theft, or sale of stolen firearms, shotguns and rifles.

S07365

Requires reasonable controls and procedures to be taken with respect to the sale, manufacturing, importing and marketing of rapid fire modification devices.

A03314

Requires liability insurance for owners of firearms, rifles and shotguns.

A06125/S05894

Requires victims of firearm violence be offered and/or provided psychiatric care.

A02209/S00816

Makes clarifying changes to the definition of imitation weapon.

A05377

Prohibits the promotion, sale, transfer, exchange, giving or disposing of a weapon on property owned by the state or any political subdivision thereof.

S04150

Relates to limiting the acquisition of a rifle or shotgun to one per ninety-day period.

A03373/S04211

Enhances the penalties for crimes committed during a riot.

A05049/S02635

Relates to licensing and other provisions relating to firearms.

S02611

Relates to lowering the age for universal hunting licenses from 14 years old to 12 years old.

A04246

Expands qualifying offenses eligible for pretrial detention and bail.

A02940/S03191

Relates to hunting and hunting licenses.