Vote to Save the Constitution  by Tom Reynolds

Some say this election is between Democrats and Republicans.

Others say it’s between the crazies and the sane – and offer gender identity policies as proof.

This election is really between those that believe in the U.S. Constitution and those that would destroy it.

The leadership of the left would destroy it.   

Early in his career, NY Assemblyman David DiPietro asked why an obviously unconstitutional bill was passed. The answer: it will take a $1 million lawsuit and 5 years to have it declared unconstitutional.

The successful 2^nd Amendment case, NYSRPA v Bruen, cost the NRA $1 million.

Now you know why NY Attorney General Letitia James wants to destroy the NRA; they are one of the few with the money to oppose unconstitutional laws. 

James is running for reelection.

After NYSRPA v Bruen, Kathy Hochul and the Democrat legislature passed a bill that contradicted the Supreme Court and numerous lawsuits have been filed against Hochul.  James defends Hochul using taxpayers’ money.  Early decisions found Hochul’s law unconstitutional. 

Hochul is running for reelection. 

Galileo's theorized that the Earth rotated daily and revolved around the sun.  It was condemned by the Catholic Church as ‘foolish’ and ‘absurd’.  (Misinformation?)  Galileo was later forced to recant and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.  (Worse than being banned from Twitter.)

Galileo died in 1642.  The Church admitted its error in 1992.  A little longer than DiPietro’s 5 years.

Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition is being condemned by the left’s leadership. He would allow viewpoints, such as Galileo’s, that contradict what the left leadership calls established science.  The left would have banned Galileo. 

Hitler, Mao and Stalin had numerous things in common - besides killing millions of innocent people - and foremost were banning dissent and firearms.  Our Founding Fathers understood this when they wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. 

Tyrants are desperate to stop dissent since the free flow of information is essential to a free society.  Washington endured his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, who paid a State Department employee to publish anti-Washington stories.  (Like Biden’s Justice Department leaks of anti-Trump information?)

U.S. Senators take an oath to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office”, which includes “support and defend the Constitution of the United States”.

Chuck Schumer wants power centralized at the federal level, making it easier to control, in direct conflict with the Constitution and especially the 10^th Amendment.  His American Rescue Plan would indirectly forbid states from using their 10^th Amendment power to lower taxes. 

Was Schumer unaware of that constitutional idea of separation of powers when he threatened, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price." 

The Supreme Court’s Chief Justice refused to participate in Schumer’s unconstitutional 2^nd impeachment of Donald Trump.

Schumer wants a federal takeover of election laws, in direct conflict with the Constitution.

Schumer is running for reelection.

Bond Proposal on the Ballot  by Tom Reynolds

On November 8^th, New York voters will decide whether the state will borrow more money.  A $4.2 billion bond act is the only statewide proposal on the (back side of the) ballot this year. The specific wording of the proposal is:

“To address and combat the impact of climate change and damage to the environment, the ‘Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022’ authorizes the sale of state bonds up to four billion two hundred million dollars to fund environmental protection, natural restoration, resiliency, and clean energy projects. Shall the Environmental Bond Act of 2022 be approved?”

The state Legislature has already approved the plan. But the catch is that the state has to get approval from voters to borrow the $4.2 billion.  The money is supposed to be used on big-ticket, long-term projects.

Who could possibly oppose something labelled the ‘Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022’?  Even though the federal ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ wasn’t about reducing inflation, we can trust that politicians have correctly labelled this one.

As you might imagine, supporters include environmental groups and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who are giddy over the proposal to give them a $4.2 billion slush fund. Yes, it’s a slush fund.  You see, there’s not a specific list of projects; that will come later in the process.  There are general allocations, not mentioned on the ballot and the biggest general allocation is $1.5 billion for climate change.  What a shock.  Climate change finds its way into the bond issue!

$1.5 billion (35% of the total funds) must be spent in disadvantaged communities. 

Opponents have raised concerns about the costs.  Let’s take a more in-depth look at that.

Gerard Kassar, the NYS Conservative Party’s chair summed it up, “We fear New York State’s reputation for unchecked spending will result in the possibility of the State Legislature spending the entirety of the $4.2 billion on projects that should be paid with existing authorized debt, new federal sources, and pay as you go where possible."

“Unchecked spending?”  In New York State?  Impossible!

“New federal sources?” State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli unintentionally explained that when he commented on the NY State budget, “The American Rescue Plan (ARP), signed by President Joseph Biden in March, will provide $12.6 billion in direct fiscal relief to New York State...” 

Couldn’t some of that $12.6 billion have been redirected to this instead of incurring new borrowing?

“Existing authorized debt?”  The state budget is around $212 billion.  $4.2 billion is 2% of that total.  Couldn’t Hochul and friends have found $4.2 billion in the budget for something they view as important as this – and not added more debt?

Kassara expanded on ‘Existing Authorized Debt.’  “…there is money remaining from projects that were authorized but never conducted or completed from earlier environmental-oriented bond acts, so that money remains to be used first.”

And timing is everything.  Kassar also added that the, “resulting debt service…will be issued at the highest interest rates New Yorkers have seen in decades."

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Jamestown, reiterated some of these issues: "The problem is, this is a very large bonding act and it's very vague as to how the money is going to be spent…“

As to the $1.5 billion slated to go to green energy initiatives, of which he would not be in favor, Borrello said, "I think those should be separate and away from infrastructure projects, because we've already spent way too many taxpayer dollars on these ridiculous boondoggle green energy projects."

What?  Ask Green Energy projects to stand on their own in front of the voters.  Environmental heresy! 

‘World Population Review’ says, “States borrow money for education, defense, health care, and welfare expenses and cover budget gaps, unfunded pension commitments, and outstanding bonds. Debts have increased in the states due to spending habits or a decrease in income from taxes and other sources…New York has the highest debt of any state, with total debt of over $203.77 billion.”

 What’s another $4.2 billion when you are already $203 billion in the hole? 

Shouldn’t some of that $203 billion have been spent on these pressing issues?  It causes one to question our political leaders’ judgement and past decisions.

Business executives and everyday people know that we must constantly make financial trade-offs; we forego buying something in order to buy something else.  Albany’s politicians have no idea what that concept is. 

Even if next year’s Governors’ name is Zeldin, judgement and financial wisdom have to be imposed onto Albany’s legislature.

Pre-Election Gun Control in D.C.  by Tom Reynolds

With record numbers of new gun owners and gun sales - as a protection against rising crimes and violence - one would think that Democrats would back off of their gun control platform…at least until after the election.  Nope!  Could it be they have little else to run on?

Here are some recent statements.

Two weeks before the midterm elections, in a tweet, the House Judiciary Committee Democrats renewed their war on “high powered assault weapons”.  They tweeted, “It’s time we banned these weapons of war.”

And Joe Biden continues to struggle with firearm facts.

In a recent interview, Biden was asked what is he currently doing to limit high-capacity magazines.  Biden said he is going to push to ban ‘assault weapons’ after the midterm elections and urged people to vote for Democrats in order to secure the ban.  He added, “My legislation says there can be no more than eight bullets in a round.”

SCOPE Prediction: A Biden success!  Eight bullet rounds will not be available.

To scare the ill-informed, Biden also claimed that AR-15 bullets “travel five times the speed of an ordinary bullet.”

SCOPE note: The AR 15 uses various size bullets with various muzzle lengths and they average around 3,000 feet per second.  Biden has a bullet that flies 15,000 feet per second?  (The .223 Valkyrie and the .220 Swift are advertised as the fastest bullets at 4,000 feet per second.  They are not ordinary bullets.) 

Biden also said AR-15 rifles are made for one thing, “to kill people,” and said he can “find no rational reason why ‘assault weapons’ should be sold, period.”

Try self-defense as a rational reason.  In his ruling on the GOA lawsuit against Hochul’s latest laws, Judge Suddaby said, "The very act of using a firearm in self-defense against another person necessarily involves threatening, if not actually causing, danger to that other person."

During another interview Biden asked, “What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for?”  But then he continued, “It’s an assault weapon designed to kill people, to defend America, to defend people.”

Well…yes.  The Center for Security Policy’s Kyle Shideler reacted to Biden’s admission by tweeting, “Biden accidentally stumbles into the meaning of the 2nd amendment.”

SCOPE note: Use a firearm to defend people!  To defend America!  Where did he get such quaint ideas? 

Unfortunately, many of the people for gun-control are not really familiar with guns and they believe what the President of the United States says.

Not to be left out, gun control activists are chiming in.

If Republicans take back one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections there will be no chance of new gun control laws passing.  The Violence Policy Center’s Kristen Rand (and a lot of other gun control activists) want to use the D.C. Swamp bureaucrats (specifically the ATF) to broadly reclassify semi-automatic firearms, such as Glocks, as machine guns.  If they can’t get their goals the old-fashioned way (using constitutional methods) they resort to the Swamp.

 I suppose it’s good that the left is keeping gun control in the spotlight before the election.  Perhaps it will motivate some gun owners to vote.  It should also warn us that, if the left is successful in being reelected into power, they will take it as they’re invincible, no matter how unsuccessful their policies are, and they will redouble their gun control efforts as well as their efforts on inflation, gas and food prices, gender identity, and other far left policy “successes”.

Issues  by Tom Reynolds

SCOPE wrote how the Democrats are trying to distract voters from the Democrat’s record.  Here is some straight talk on the major issues:

Recession.  The Wall Street Journal’s survey of economists found that the probability of a recession in the next 12 months is 63 percent. An economic model run by Bloomberg Economics registered the probability of a recession at 100 percent. The Conference Board's leading economic indicators point to a recession by the end of this year.

Biden seems to agree.  Republican control of Congress cannot happen until January but Biden is already blaming them for the coming recession.  He said: “…you need to know this Republican leadership in Congress has made it clear they will crash the economy next year.” 

Inflation is running at a level not seen in 40 years. Interest rates are soaring. Democrats falsely claim inflation started with Trump and, truthfully, that it is a worldwide issue. 

Other issues do contribute to the problem but the main cause is printing trillions of dollars in order to buy votes (economic stimulus) and fund the “Green New Deal”.

Central Banks are trying to hold down inflation by tightening the money supply (raising interest rates and not rebuying government bonds as they mature).  The opposite policy is pushed by leftist politicians who want to expand the money supply with more economic stimulus (to buy votes). 

Democrat Stacey Abrams has a unique solution.  She stated that abortion is the answer to bringing down inflation!  (Honestly, she did say that.) 

Forgiveness of Student Loans buys votes but it may be illegal, it is being contested in court and it will contribute to inflation! 

People that worked their way through college or have paid off their student loans won’t be happy about this nor will those that never went to college, since the loans are being shifted to them from those that borrowed the money.  (Who knew we co-signed loans for people we never met.) 

Why more economic stimulus in the face of inflation?  Answer: college grads tend to vote Democrat in greater numbers.

Climate Change.  Democrats argue actions are necessary to save the world from rising oceans.  But Barack Obama keeps buying ocean front property!

Energy costs are skyrocketing.  God put enormous amounts of raw energy beneath our feet and capitalism gave us the technology to extract it.  The left opposes God, fossil fuels and capitalism.

The left’s real aim is to raise fossil fuel costs up to the higher level of green energy.  Are they surprised that energy consumers are unhappy at the increased costs and might vote to throw them from office?   

Government subsidies are the only thing keeping green energy in business and ‘you aint seen nothing yet.”  They have only just begun to subsidize!    

Abortion is supposed to motivate Democrats after Roe v Wade was overturned.  But the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision did not outlaw abortion; SCOTUS said abortion was a state issue and the federal government did not have the power to regulate it.  This threatens the left, which believes power should be consolidated, where they can easily control it, at the federal level. 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also justifies abortion as an antidote for a recession: “I believe that eliminating the rights of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy…” 

Crime.  Democrats claim the answer to rising crime is more gun control. 

Criticize their policies and you are a racist since the big cities they control - and where crime is rampant - are ‘diverse’. 

Conservatives believe the problems aren’t racism and gun control but are, instead: bail reform laws; soft on crime D A’s; unchecked illegal immigration; gun laws disarming law-abiding citizens; defund the police; and the leftist culture that blames society instead of the criminal.   

Defund the Police.  Democrats now claim it was only a small minority of Democrats that called for defunding the police.  They also claim it was mostly peaceful protests that destroyed inner cities.

Police unions are endorsing a Republican, Lee Zeldin, for NY Governor, which is previously unheard of in New York State.

Racism.  Disagree with a Democrat and you are labelled a racist.  It could backfire as people do not like being labelled as racist just because they used their 1^st Amendment rights.  But the left sees racism charges as the path to silencing any criticism of their policies. 

Propaganda in schools.  Home schooling during Covid exposed the leftist agenda being taught in schools.  Parents then objected and were labelled terrorists. Democrats believe parents should not have a say in their children’s education.

Major issues that are being promoted against parents’ will are gender identity, Critical Race Theory and rewriting American history as all due to racism. 

Boys competing in girls’ sports and boys using girls’ locker rooms are also big issues.

Gun Control.  SCOTUS reaffirmed our 2^nd Amendment rights and Democrats reacted by basically saying SCOTUS decisions and the Constitution do not apply in New York State.

Military. The military services are falling well short of their recruitment goals. 

Why put your life on the line for the racist country that the left paints?  Join the military and be brainwashed by the left’s propaganda is not a good recruitment ad.  Lives are in danger when the top military officers are more politician than warfighter and confuse diversity with lethality.

Politicizing the Justice Department.  The Justice Department and its FBI are denizens of the D C Swamp, not the impartial arbiters of justice that they are supposed to be.  We now know why our founders were afraid of a national police force.

Foreign Policy. It’s been said that Joe Biden has been on the wrong side of history in every foreign policy decision.  Nothing has changed.

Donald Trump.  Trump has not been president for almost two years but he still lives rent free in Democrats’ heads.  They want to energize those that hate him and keep him from running again for president, all the while distracting voters from the above issues.

Miscellaneous Items  by Tom Reynolds

Chicago…Chicago…That’s Some Kind of Town

We constantly hear about the shootings in Chicago, which has some of the most stringent gun control laws in the country.  Our friends at GOA-NY sent the attached link which brings home just how bad the situation is in Chicago.

Chicago Crime, Murder & Mayhem | Criminal Infographics | HeyJackass!

It’s worth a few minutes of your time.

ICE Strikes But Not Enough

From August 20 to September 30, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency carried out a nationwide sting operation that arrested 175 illegal aliens, all with multiple drunk driving convictions and some even in the sanctuary states of California and New York.  Other illegal aliens had prior convictions for vehicular homicide, hit-and-run, assault, child abuse, weapons violations, domestic violence, and fraud.

Illegal immigrant “encounters” by the border patrol have been numbering 200,000 per month.  It’s estimated that 600,000 more have avoided any ‘encounter’, yearly. 

Drug overdose deaths far outnumber shooting deaths.  Could an open southern border be facilitating drug smuggling?

Money Can’t Buy Happiness

The highest team payrolls in Major League Baseball in 2022 were the LA Dodgers ($261 million), the NY Mets ($259 million) and the NY Yankees ($251 million).

All of them will be watching the World Series at home.

Quotes to Vote

Getting gun owners to vote is always a major task.  The most recent New York State Rifle and Pistol Association’s magazine posted some quotes.  If those quotes won’t inspire people to vote, nothing will.

Not voting is not a protest.  It is a surrender.  Keith Ellison

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.  Plato 

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.  George Nathan

Every election is determined by the people who show up.  Larry Sabato  (As someone else said, “80% of success is just showing up.”)

And NYSRPA President Tom King added an important thought when he declared a “Second Amendment Emergency” and wrote, “…as much as I dislike Republicans In Name Only, we must support them.  Remember, a RINO in office is much better than a Democrat…”

Along those same lines from SCOPE - It’s an imperfect world and politics is filled with imperfect candidates - and many are just plain bad.  When you don’t vote you are saying, “I surrender to the bad.  Do what you will with my country and me.”  And rest assured, Schumer, Biden, Pelosi, Hochul, and Letitia James won’t hesitate to take control and destroy America, starting with the Constitution that many of us took an oath to defend.  That oath did not have an expiration date.

Gun Control + Abortion versus Everything Else  by Tom Reynolds

There isn’t much that the Democrats have to brag about in this election year.  So, they can only attack their Republican challengers on issues that are far from the voters’ minds, in order to distract those voters and to cater to their hardline supporters.  Issues of real importance to the voters are treated like coiled rattlesnakes by the Democrats.  

Or in other words, look at my left hand and not my right hand.

Inflation got you down?  Stacey Abrams, the once and current candidate for Georgia governor has the solution; get an abortion.  She said, “Let’s be clear. Having children is why you’re worried about your price for gas. It’s why you’re concerned about how much food costs. For women this is not a reproductive issue. You can’t divorce being forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy from the economic realities of having a child.”  (The choice is between having a child and filling up your gas tank, so blame the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v Wade and increasing gas prices?) 

Crime an issue?  Not worth bothering about in New York, according to the leftist media.  Focus instead on is the recent Supreme Court decision in NYSRPA v Bruen which is characterized by the leftist media as overturning a “century old New York law”.  (Like that other long-term Democrat law that was once overturned, “Separate but Equal”?)  Kathy Hochul is complaining that the Supreme Court is keeping her from protecting New Yorkers.  No mention from her about “Bail Reform”, closing prisons, soft on crime D.A.’s or illegal immigration. 

Children deaths an issue?  Instead, focus on guns as the cause.  U.S News & World Report writes that “Firearm sales in the United States broke records at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic…Now, researchers have found that firearm injuries to children also increased during the pandemic’s first two years…”  In the leftist media’s world, more gun sales must automatically equal more children’s deaths, which is like the ice cream/rape connection; both ice cream sales and sexual assaults go up in hotter weather so ice cream must be related to rape.  And depending on the research, the definition of children goes up to 19 and occasionally to 24.  No mention of teenage gang related activity as a possible cause of teenagers dying.

Climate change is always a preferred distraction.  In August, California banned the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles, starting in 2035.  Almost immediately, California had to ask electric vehicle owners to not recharge their cars’ battery during peak hours because of feared electrical blackouts.  Embarrassing timing for the all-electric, green energy universe?  Nope, not at all.  Just another opportunity to focus blame on climate change and not their handling of the electrical grid.  As one liberal columnist said, the danger of blackouts was actually a good thing as it was training electric vehicle owners to change their behavior and not recharge when convenient or necessary for them but, instead, to wait until it was convenient for the future green powered electrical grid.  Another wrote that the risk of rolling blackouts could be greatly reduced except for other factors - such as reliability.  (Reliability should not be a factor in our green energy future?)

When in doubt, focus on Donald Trump to distract voters.  For instance, since Lee Zeldin is close to an upset in the New York governor’s race, rather than defend Hochul’s policies or attack Zeldin’s proposals, that Democrat’s mouthpiece, the NY Times, headlined: “Zeldin Built His Profile Defending Trump. Will New Yorkers Mind?  And then it wrote an article about Zeldin’s ties to Trump.  Nothing about the numerous financial scandals that are chasing Hochul.  (It also ignores that there are millions of people who like Trump, but they probably don’t read the NY Times.)  

One of our main concerns is gun owners’ habit of not voting.  The usual reason given by the non-voters is “What difference will it make in New York State”.   (The media will ignore any mention, as above, that Zeldin might win.)  The leftist media is reinforcing that mindset of not voting with their doom scenarios that Democrats are turning out in record numbers in early voting.  (You might as well give up.)  Don’t fall into that mindset. It’s obvious that’s a last-minute media narrative concocted by the Democrats and advanced by a partisan political press to discourage you from voting.

Did Your News Media Miss This?  by Tom Reynolds

Approximately 285 students are enrolled at Garret Morgan High School in Cleveland, Ohio.  On September 14th, a security officer spotted four masked and armed gunmen pull up in three cars – later found to be stolen.  The four appeared to be teenagers, although masked.

The gunmen approached the school. The school went into lockdown and the security officer called 911.

When the gunmen continued to approach the school, the officer repeatedly said to people in the school, “Don’t let them in the building.”  Another person yelled, “Don’t let ’em in the building!” And another person seemed to relay that message to others, echoing, “Don’t let ’em in the building!”

“Keep the school locked down,” the dispatcher instructed the 911 caller.

Moments later, the security officer said, “They’re inside the building. They’re in the outer part.”

The dispatcher responded with, “They got in the building?”

These masked, armed and dangerous gunmen got through one door, but they stopped in a vestibule where a second set of doors were locked.

Cleveland police got there quickly.  Officers approached the gunmen and the gunmen took off running. A prolonged foot chase went through the neighborhood and across a highway.  One escaped but the police arrested three of them.  The police also found two guns. 

How did four masked and armed gunmen get into a school on lockdown?

Two school administrators — Christopher Kane and Carolyn Elias, both assistant principals — let them in.

Let them in!  Why?

According to WJW TV, one of the vice principals said, “I confirmed the interior doors were locked and instructed the four suspects to come to the vestibule because it was unsafe to be outside because I saw police officers.”

Apparently, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is not aware of teenage gangs’ inclination for violence as it defended the principals.  Did it believe that the second set of doors would have stopped four armed gunmen if they had decided to go further.  (It probably also believes in the tooth fairy.)

Not everyone agreed with the school district.

"RECKLESS + DANGEROUS," said the National Fraternal Order of Police in response, "@CLEMetroSchools administrators at Garrett Morgan HS allowed MASKED GUNMEN to enter the school in order to protect the gunmen from *wait for it* police officers outside. They risked the lives of CHILDREN to show how woke they are. Can’t make it up."

Ken Trump, who runs National School Safety and Security Services in Cleveland, was also very critical. "You’ve just let them one step closer in…The goal is to keep students away from harm. You don’t let the bad guy, especially when you know they’re the bad guy, get closer into your school building."

Two woke principals put 285 students in mortal danger to protect armed teenagers from the police.  You can’t get more woke than that!  It was only luck that prevented the situation from escalating.  Oh yeah, in spite of the vice principals’ concerns about the police, none of the perpetrators were injured in the chase.

One 16-year-old who was also wanted in a robbery case was charged for having a gun on him and locked up in the detention center.  The woke social justice system treated the two others “wokely;” they were sent home in their own recognizance to wait as a prosecutor reviewed the case.  (Entering a school building while masked, armed and after stealing a car - and they were sent home.  Nothing dangerous about them!)

In another unrelated situation which demonstrates that common sense is uncommon in some school administrators, earlier this year a 7 years old Wisconsin boy was arrested and charged with sexual harassment by a school administrator because he used the wrong pronoun when addressing another student.  (You can’t make this up!)

One final thought about why this is important to gun owners – as well as anyone with a child in school.  Under NY State’s Red Flag laws, school administrators are considered responsible enough to Red Flag other people as dangerous owners of firearms.

Interchangeable With God  by Tom Reynolds

Is there something in Albany’s water that breaks down moral, ethical and legal barriers or is it just the lure of power and money?  Some prominent examples:

Kathy Hochul’s Democrat Governor predecessors, Andrew Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer, resigned mid-term; both had sex related issues and Cuomo was plagued by numerous ethical scandals.  In between those two, Democrat Governor David Paterson abandoned his bid for an elected term and was fined $62,000 for perjury.

Cuomo had previously been NY State’s Attorney General’s and one of his Democrat successors, Eric Schneiderman, resigned in 2018 due to his abuse of women.

Democrat NY State comptroller Alan Hevesi quit after his 2006 reelection and went to prison for a pay-to-play kickback scheme involving the NY State Pension fund, which he managed.

Sheldon Silver was the Democrat Speaker of the NY State Assembly for 21 years until he was arrested. (For 21 years, no one suspected he was a crook?)

Long term NY State Senate majority leader, Republican Joe Bruno, went to prison, as did his next three successors, Democrat Malcolm Smith, Republican Dean Skelos, and Democrat Pedro Espada.  

Kathy Hochul’s appointment for Lieutenant Governor, Democrat Brian Benjamin, lasted only eight months before resigning due to a federal indictment for a pay-to-play bribery scheme.

And those are the ones who got caught!

Perhaps they believe they are so insulated that they appear “God-like” when looking in the mirror.  Kathy Hochul seems to have acquired that self-image.  National Review reports that when speaking about her vaccine mandate, she told a Brooklyn church, “…there are people out there who aren’t listening to God and what God wants.”  Thou shalt do what Kathy says or she will ship you out of state.

And if that is not enough to convince you that Hochul and God are interchangeable, she refused to allow religious exemptions from her vaccine mandates based on her interpretation of every religious dogma.  She said, “I’m not aware of a sanctioned religious exemption from any organized religion…” 

Even the United State Supreme Court is supposed to bow before New York Governors.  After the Supreme Court struck down New York’s unconstitutional restrictions on concealed carry, Hochul called the legislature into special session to pass restrictive new gun laws that were quickly found by a judge to violate the Supreme Court’s rulings.

That pesky United States Constitution keeps interfering with the lofty view from the Governor’s elevated perch.  Andrew Cuomo said that, “Right to life, pro-assault weapons…they have no place in the state of New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”  In August, Hochul told a campaign rally that conservatives should “just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, okay? Get out of town. Because you do not represent our values. You are not New Yorkers.”  Apparently, having New York on your birth certificate does not entitle you to have 1st or 2nd Amendment rights.  You need to leave New York State in order to enjoy your constitutional rights.

Since the “Albany Swamp” does not like investigating criminal acts of other “Swamp Denizens” - until that cannot be avoided - the people have to put up with this behavior.  Except…on November 8th we get a chance to strike back and deny them their self-perceived lofty status above the United States Constitution and equal to God.  Even if your beliefs disagree with those of the politicians in power, you are still entitled to vote in New York State.

Oh, did I mention that NY City tried to give non-citizens the right to vote in an attempt to nullify your only chance to say no to the Albany Swamp?  Fortunately, that was a bridge too far even for New York, in a judge’s opinion which stopped it.  But don’t think that the Swamp will not be back to try again.

It's time for life to imitate the movie Network.  We need to say, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”  And then vote!

NY Governor’s Race  by Tom Reynolds

Many gun owners will not vote and one of their excuses is that they cannot overcome the NY City population advantage so…why bother.  But that excuse doesn’t seem to hold-much-water in this year’s elections. 

Real Clear Politics (RCP) tries to compile the results of several polls in order to get a truer picture of a race.  Just after Labor Day, when voters are only starting to pay attention, Lee Zeldin trailed Kathy Hochul by 14 to 16 points in the governor’s race. 

As voters started paying attention, Zeldin’s polls got better and RCP rated the race as “Leans Democrat”, a tighter category.

Now, RCP rates the race as a “Toss Up”.  Hochul’s lead is only a few points and dropping.

Trafalgar, which has a history of being an outlier - but a correct outlier - has Hochul ahead by only 2 points.

Doug Schoen, a Democratic strategist and consultant to President Bill Clinton, said, “It’s a very competitive race.”

A “toss up.”  “Competitive.”  Perhaps those non-voting gun owners should start paying attention because, as voters learn the difference between the two, Zeldin is gaining momentum. 

This is especially true in bigger cities where increased crime is a huge issue.  Zeldin says he will fire Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg and Hochul won’t.  Zeldin vows to fix no-bail and other “reform” disasters and Hochul’s attitude is: change – what change?

Hochul Is also burdened with her party’s politics that have opened our borders to unprecedented illegal immigration leading to increased crime and drug trafficking.   The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) rates New York State as an illegal alien sanctuary on the basis of a Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2017 Executive Order, which covered state agencies.  In 2018, a New York state appeals court ruled that state and local governments cannot honor ICE immigration detainers.  New York also began allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses in 2019.  NY City tried allowing non-citizens to vote but that was struck down by the courts.

Hochul also has several ethical issues focusing around money, the number of which is impressive considering her short time in office.  Trust the main stream media to take-a-pass on this, as they did with Hunter Biden.  But it is worthwhile to read SCOPE’s report of September 22^nd “Following in Andrew’s Footsteps”.  S.C.O.P.E. Shooters Committee On Political Education - Following in Andrew’s Footsteps (scopeny2a.org) 

Per the NY Times, Hochul “will enter the homestretch of the race with nearly $10.9 million in cash at her disposal — two and a half times as much money as Mr. Zeldin.”  But Evan Stavisky, a Democratic strategist, said “Lee Zeldin is raising enough money to run a more competitive race than the last few Republican gubernatorial nominees.” 

Zeldin’s goal is to inform the electorate. Like Democrat candidates nationwide, Hochul is trying to distract voters from the issues voters are most concerned with, since the Democrats have been in power when most of these problems were created.  Distraction costs a lot more.  Hochul has spent more than $1.5 million a week, since Labor Day, in an ad campaign to try to highlight Zeldin’s opposition to abortion and support for President Trump. Inflation, crime, immigration, drugs, murders and assaults…not so much. 

Lee Zeldin is generally considered the strongest Conservative Republican candidate for governor in many years and solidly supports the 2nd Amendment.  Both SCOPE Chairman Jack Prendergast and SCOPE President Tom Reynolds have spoken with him several times and they are convinced his positions on 2A are NOT lip service and that he genuinely believes in and understands the right to “keep and bear arms”.

Kathy Hochul’s opposition to the 2^nd Amendment has been well documented by SCOPE in Emails over the past few weeks.

Here’s a prediction: Hochul will start accusing Zeldin of racism in his fight against crime.  This has been a favorite strategy of Democrats since the first George Bush highlighted Willie Horton in ad campaigns.  For those that don’t remember, Horton  was a convicted felon who, while serving a life sentence for murder without the possibility of parole,  was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts weekend furlough program while Bush’s opponent was governor of Massachusetts. Horton did not return from his weekend furlough and committed assault, armed robbery, and rape before being captured.  That Bush pointed this out was considered by the left as being racist.

A weekend furlough for a convicted murderer! And you though New York’s new bail laws were crazy.

Former President  Trump endorsed Zeldin with these words.  "I have watched and known Congressman Lee Zeldin for many years. He is a great and brilliant lawyer who was a ‘must see’ for others in Congress when they had a complex legal problem that was holding up legislation…Lee was strong on the Border, Crime, our great Military & Vets (like few others!), and fought hard to protect our 2nd Amendment, and succeeded. Lee Zeldin is a WINNER who GOT THINGS DONE. He will be a GREAT Governor of New York...”

There are an estimated 5 million gun owners in NY State and when Andrew Cuomo was reelected in 2014, 3.8 million total votes were cast and Cuomo won with 2.1 million votes.  If gun owners had shown up to vote…

Counties Speak Out for the 2^nd Amendment  by Tom Reynolds

SCOPE and other 2^nd Amendment defense organizations, such as Niagara County SAFE, have been busy getting their county legislators to pass resolutions in opposition to / condemning the new gun control laws and, in particular, the so-called ‘Concealed Carry Improvement Act’ - which would better have been titled the ‘Concealed carry Elimination Act.”

The purpose is not only to register our anger at Kathy Hochul’s unconstitutional acts but to publicize her actions and, hopefully, make some gun owners aware of what is happening.  And, perhaps, motivate them to vote in November.

The following is an example of the 3 minute rationale that was used in front of the county legislature during the ‘Public Comment’ portion of the legislature’s meeting.

Inflation gets attention but constitutional infringements can go unnoticed.  Before you is a resolution opposing a law restricting the 2^nd Amendment rights of law abiding citizens.  Restricting criminals…not so much. 

Elected officials, including the NY Governor, take an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution.  Not just those parts of the Constitution that they like, but the whole thing.

Last week, a federal judge held that most of this NY law violated either the 1^st, 2^nd, 5^th or 14th Amendments.  Apparently, Kathy Hochul is not rabid about fulfilling her oath of office.

The Supreme Court repeatedly emphasizes that the purpose of the 2^nd Amendment is self-defense. 

During the Cold War, there was a self-defense policy called Mutually Assured Destruction.  If we were attacked with nuclear weapons, we would respond with nuclear weapons.  The USSR might succeed in destroying us, but we would have also destroyed them.  The policy worked! No nuclear war.

Self-defense involving guns is about Mutually Assured Destruction. Legal gun owners never want to use their weapon against another human being.  We hope that by being armed and willing to use our gun, that will stop criminals before they commit the crime.

Hochul wants to disarm legal gun owners, shifting power to the criminal.

Incidents involving guns - without shooting being involved - don’t make news.  However, the Center For Disease Control did a study and found that guns were used defensively an estimated 496,000 times a year. 

A 2013 review by the National Research Council found that annual estimates of defensive gun use ranges from about 500,000 to more than 3 million. 

Don’t be deceived by gun control advocates’ lies and misinformation: for instance, Joe Biden outright lies when he says that Gun manufacturers can’t be sued.

At least 18 counties have approved similar resolutions. 

The State Troopers Association has come out in opposition to the law.

The NY State Sheriffs Association said it best: “We do not support punitive licensing requirements that aim only to restrain and punish law-abiding citizens…If we had been consulted before passage of these laws, we could have helped the Legislators…and the result would have been better, more workable licensing provisions that respect the rights of our law-abiding citizens and punish the lawbreakers.”

Send a message that the Constitution still means something in NY State.

Here is a list of the 18 New York counties that have passed resolutions – to date - in opposition the so-called ‘Concealed Carry Improvement Act.’

Essex                                   July 5th

Orleans                                 July 27^th

Seneca                                 Aug 23^rd

Cayuga                                 Aug 23^rd

Cattaraugus                          Aug 30^th

Sullivan                                 Sep 1^st

Niagara                                 Sep 13^th

Allegany                               Sep 14^th

Herkimer                               Sep 14^th

Oswego                                Sep 15th

Columbia                              Sep 15^th

Wayne                                  Sep 22^nd

Steuben                                Sep 22^nd

Genesee                               Sep 28^th

Chautauqua                          Sep 28th

Schuyler                               Oct 11^th

Chemung                              Oct 11^th

Yates                                    Oct 11^th