helming@nysenate.gov

Wayne County SCOPE Meeting April 13, 2022 Minutes Meeting Attendance:  20. started at 7pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Minutes from March 9, 2022 were read and approved. Treasurers Report April balance = $2,958.12 Annual SCOPE Members Meeting Reminder:  April 30th, Ramada Inn in Geneva, members’ meeting starts at 10 am, followed by a State Board meeting. Members are welcome to attend the SBOD meeting.  Gun Raffle drawing to take place. Closing time estimated to be 4 pm.  Discussion of Bills in House/Assembly: Members are asked to visit the SCOPE website for NY State and Federal Legislation bills.  scopeny2a.org Gun Manufacturers cannot be sued for frivolous lawsuits but can be sued by individuals despite attempts by some government officials who say otherwise. Munitions containing more than 1% lead cannot be used on State land/ NY City Watershed if bills currently in NY State Legislature pass. Pam Helming is requesting feedback RE:  Bill requiring “Tax on Ammo”: $0.02/round 22 ammo; $0.05/other. Contact her re Senate bill 8415 by email: helming@nysenate.gov  Assemblyman Brian Manktelow on possible upcoming bill re:  “Stringent Record Keeping for Gun Sales”. (Will this result in long gun registration?) Introduction of Robert Groom, Lyons NY; and John Murtari, Lyons NY as potential candidates in the newly formed 24TH Congressional District. However, neither candidate obtained the required 1250 signatures and thereby are not eligible for the June 28 GOP Primary.  The WCS Board and members voted to purchase a 60 inch TV to be used by WC SCOPE and the American Legion at a cost not to exceed $500. We are attempting to set up a zoom meeting of a debate between Chris Jacobs and Mario Fratto for our May 11th meeting. Jacobs will be in Washington while Fratto will be at our meeting in the Marion Legion Post. All members in the newly formed 24th Congressional District will be notified via email with the required link and phone number or are welcome to attend the meeting in person. Our new TV will be used for this purpose   Chris Jacobs and Mario Fratto will be the only GOP candidates on the June 28 Primary ballot. Republican Primary Day June 28th, 2022 Sheriff Milby reported that Road Patrol is down by 1/3, moral is good.  He encouraged citizens to encourage and let the officers know how much they are appreciated. An average of 50 gun permits are approved each month with a turn around time of about five months. SCOPE Board Don Smith/Chairman; Dave Colburn/Vice Chairman; Cory Woodward/Secretary; Mark Coleman/Treasurer;  Penny Gugino /Member At Large; Gary Tucker/Member At Large; Cheryl Eberlin/Member At Large.

Biden’s New ATF Nominee: Worse than David Chipman!  by Don Smith

Last year, gun owners across America stood up and rejected David Chipman’s nomination to run the scandal-ridden ATF.  Now, we’re going to have to do it again.

According to several sources, Biden’s handlers are about to nominate Steve Dettelbach as the new director of the ATF. And if you thought that Chipman was the worst nominee possible, I’ve got bad news for you: Steve Dettelbach is even worse!  

There is no time to waste, as Biden’s team is trying to rally support for Dettelbach behind closed doors as we speak. Please call our NY senators and express your strong opposition against this left-wing activist immediately!
Chairman Wayne County SCOPE

1.Contact Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D) 

DC Phone Number: 202-224-6542 (you will need to leave a message)

Contact: https://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/email-chuck

2.Contact Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) 

DC Phone Number: 202-224-4451 (you may need to leave a message)

Contact: https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/email-me

Dettelbach was a former candidate for Ohio Attorney General (and a former United State Attorney during the Obama Administration). Dettelbach has made gun control a core part of his public image and is on the record in support of:

>>> A total ban on the sale of AR-15s and hundreds of similar firearms, along with the magazines that we need to run them. To be clear, Dettelbach supports bringing felony charges against law abiding Americans who buy these rifles!

>>> Establishing a national registry of every firearm and every gun owner under the guise of ‘Universal Background Checks.’ The left wants this data to lay the groundwork for eventual gun confiscation!

>>> Putting gun owners with a variety of misdemeanor convictions on the ‘prohibited persons’ NICS list. Once we go down this road and put non-felons into NICS, millions of gun owners will be disarmed!

Dettelbach also supports seizing guns from people who are seeking help for mental health difficulties, but who have never been adjudicated as defective. This sounds like the ‘unsafe’ act. 

Dettelbach’s commitment to the left’s gun control agenda is why Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety backed him when he ran for Attorney General in Ohio in 2018 -- and why he received the personal endorsement of Barack Obama and Joe Biden! 

Last Last year, gun owners across America stood up and rejected David Chipman’s nomination to run the scandal-ridden ATF.  Now, we’re going to have to do it again.

According to several sources, Biden’s handlers are about to nominate Steve Dettelbach as the new director of the ATF. And if you thought that Chipman was the worst nominee possible, I’ve got bad news for you: Steve Dettelbach is even worse!  

There is no time to waste, as Biden’s team is trying to rally support for Dettelbach behind closed doors as we speak. Please call our NY senators and express your strong opposition against this left-wing activist immediately!

Don Smith,  Chairman Wayne County SCOPE
don6027@gmail.com

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”   — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

S.C.O.P.E. (Shooters Committee On Political Education) needs your continued membership. The past three years have seen continued suppression of our liberties with gun bills which have had no effect on reducing gun violence. Their passage merely restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens like yourself.

A great deal of preparation is needed if we are to take advantage of the resignation of Governor Cuomo. The 2022 elections are right around the corner and two major goals lie ahead of us:

1.One is the election of a Republican governor. Excellent candidates are available. 

2.The other goal is for the Republicans to win back the State Senate. This may require two election cycles.

One or both goals will bring a halt to further passage of obtrusive legislation designed to encroach upon our civil and Constitutional liberties. We need to work cooperatively to prevent legislation which would:

>Require the registration of long guns?
>Require a mental exam before purchasing or transferring a pistol, rifle or shotgun?
>Require us to purchase high levels of liability insurance?>Require us to undergo a background check to buy a box of ammunition?

I think I know your answers to such questions. But what commitment are you willing to make?

>Will you help our organized battle by renewing your membership?
>Will you help recruit other gun owners in your county? 
>will you register new voters and encourage all to vote?

We have enough gun owners in New York to win any election.

*Renew your S.C.O.P.E. membership today at our website: www.scopeny2a.org   -OR-

*Mail the membership form on the back of a Firing Lines to PO Box 165, East Aurora, NY 14052 

A good friend and 2A supporter sent this to me:

 I spoke to Assemblyman David DiPietro about the big problem gun owners will have when marijuana becomes legal to buy and to use.  This is a way the federal government can take away your second amendment rights.  It seems that the legal purchase of pot will need you to show proof of your age with a government document with a photo.  Usually this is a driver's license.  That information can be captured by the government and your name will be on a list of marijuana purchases which can be sent to the FBI and the NICS list to make you ineligible for purchasing guns.  It also opens the door for the feds to check the list against the list of people who own guns, like pistol permits an hunting licenses and could give them a reason to knock on your door, arrest you and confiscate all your guns.  This last sentence is my opinion, but I believe this federal government is capable and willing to do so as their passion for "more gun control" increases.  Attached is the statement from Assemblyman DiPietro who has a perfect Second Amendment record as a legislator.  I believe what he says. Pass this on to your gun owning friends.

From Assemblyman DiPietro:

Hi .."To all firearms owners: please be advised that any purchase of legalized marijuana in New York State will result in the confiscation of your firearms. Marijuana is still a controlled substance according to federal law. Federal law supercedes state law.

I’m more convinced than ever that SCOPE must focus beyond defending only the Second Amendment. We must emphasize that the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, and perhaps others, to be of equal importance. 

• Let’s look at the facts. Intrusion by the state and federal governments as well as bureaucrats over the past 2 years have limited our rights as protected in more than one amendment. 

  Recall President Biden’s remark in his acceptance speech on January 20, 2020:  “‘We The People’ means the government”.

  Nothing could be further from the truth. I prefer a statement by our first President, George Washington: “The power under the Constitution will always be in the people”.

  The “pandemic” with its selective shutdowns, mask and other mandates may have been well-intentioned by some. But the Constitution, according to Daniel Webster, was “made to guard against the dangers of good intentions”…”There are men, in all ages…who mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters…They think there need be but little restraint upon themselves…the love of power may sink too deep in their own hearts….”

  Sound all too familiar? The possibility of greater harm looms ahead. How many of you are aware that under the leadership of Gov. Kathy Hochul, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) has considered adopting several regulations pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed regulations have prompted a great deal of public concern due to their encroachments upon personal and religious liberty. 

  In a February 8 press release, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Pulaski) said: 

  “The COVID pandemic opened the door to an era of government overreach and the Hochul Administration is taking full advantage of the opportunity… If the governor and her agency commissioners want to turn temporary measures into permanent laws, send the bills to the Legislature, and let them go through the legislative process with debate and proper consideration. Making agency directives permanent is a blatant end-run around the Senate and Assembly, and an extension of the unilateral Executive-Order governing that defined the last two years.”

  The proposed regulation would expand the Health Department’s authority to isolate and quarantine New Yorkers due to communicable diseases. This regulation would give Health Department officials, in coordination with law enforcement, the authority to force an individual into isolation, including in a place that is not their home.

  Recall the words of Thomas Jefferson: “We in America do not have government by the majority—we have government by the majority who participate…All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

  How then can you participate?  Click on each of the four links below to easily send your comments on the proposed regulations to the New York State Department of Health. The public comment period for these proposals ends on Monday, February 14, 2022.

  https://www.votervoice.net/NYCF/campaigns/91737/respond.

• 
  https://www.albanyupdate.com/connect/?vvsrc=%2fcampaigns%2f91735%2frespond

  https://www.votervoice.net/NYCF/campaigns/91736/respond.   
  
  

  https://www.albanyupdate.com/connect/?vvsrc=%2fcampaigns%2f91740%2frespond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marijuana became legal in the state of Montana just a few weeks ago on New Year’s Day. NY State Gun owners beware! Marijuana legalization will lead to loss of firearms.

For a lot of people, that’s big. However, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be (pun intended). After all, while you can lawfully use pot, you have to give up a little something to do so.

Namely, your ability to lawfully own firearms.

A key federal agency has confirmed a fact underreported in coverage of the state’s new marijuana program: It remains illegal under federal law for individuals to simultaneously possess marijuana or marijuana products and firearms. Penalties for violating that law are severe.

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed the policy to Montana Free Press last week, noting that the federal Gun Control Act prohibits a person who possesses a controlled substance from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Cannabis is currently recognized as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance.

“The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) prohibits a person who uses a controlled substance from possessing a firearm or ammunition,” ATF Public [sic]. GCA repealed the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, though many of its provisions were reenacted as part of the GCA, which revised the FFA and its predecessor, the National Firearms Act of 1934.

It should be noted that the Drug Enforcement Agency is responsible for determining which drugs go into which schedule. Since marijuana has been legalized to some degree in so many places, it would make sense to at least change pot to a schedule 2 controlled substance.

Not that it will help. You see, more properly, what the ATF should have noted is that unlawful users of controlled substances aren’t able to possess firearms. Because of federal law, marijuana use of any kind is considered unlawful, even with a prescription.

So even if pot was downgraded to a schedule 2, it would still mean that recreational use would bar someone from lawfully owning guns.

What’s clearly needed here is something that we’re not likely to see. What we need is for federal law to step in and mandate that so long as a drug is legal in that state, one doesn’t lose their Second Amendment rights for using it. All the more reason for flipping the Senate in November 2022. Elections do have a consequence. 

My last post referenced attempts in New Jersey to pass new bills “intended to strengthen the state’s gun laws”.

NY State’s legislative bodies (Senate & Assembly) begin their new session next week on January 5.  Several Gun control bills were presented in the past 3 years with many taking a back seat to the problems surrounding the pandemic.  Will this be the year New Jersey “like” bills are introduced here?  Can we expect you to become more involved in monitoring such legislation?

One of SCOPE’s major goals is to track such bills and educate members as well as our elected officials as to whether we support or reject each piece of legislation.  

This is a time consuming process requiring a good deal of research.  We need members who have the time for such research to engage in the bill-tracking process. 

This will be a topic of discussion at our next Wayne County Members’ Meeting to be held on January 12 @7 pm in the Marion American Legion Post.  Consider this a request to attend and become more involved in your SCOPE Chapter.

“Make no mistake…everyone counts and their participation matters.”

Don

Imagine suing Ford when one of their vehicles is used in a fatal DUI. We’re talking about selling legal, non-defective products that are in compliance with all laws and regulations. Yet an article on our Wayne page outlines attempts by New York and California to do exactly that with regards to firearms. Not unexpectedly, New Jersey has jumped on the band wagon. I predict more will follow suit. 

A package of bills intended to strengthen the state’s gun laws advanced in the New Jersey Assembly on Monday, including one that would punish gun owners for not locking away their firearms and ammunition separately and another that would allow the state Attorney General to pursue public nuisance violations against gun dealers and manufacturers.

The storage law would require all gun owners to store unloaded firearms in gun safes or locked boxes, with ammunition locked away separately. Penalties range from community service to fourth-degree felony charges.

Someone who is being confronted by a home invasion may believe the safest place for their ammunition is in the chamber of their gun. One NJ legislator said: “I think we’re looking at this the wrong way – don’t stop the legal gun owners from protecting themselves.”

How can you blame an entire industry for harms caused by individuals misusing a product? If passed, I predict it will be challenged in court just as any such laws in NY and/or California. 

Other bills advanced would:

• Require newly manufactured semi-automatic handguns to be micro-stamped and establish a handgun database
• Revise the definition of destructive device to include certain weapons of 50-caliber or greater
• Regulate and develop an online monitoring system for ammunition sales
• Require gun owners who move into New Jersey to get a firearm purchaser identification card within 30 days and register any guns acquired outside of New Jersey
• Support Gov. Phil Murphy’s call to reconvene a “States for Gun Safety”summit

Do you believe NY might likely attend a “States for Gun Safety” summit? I certainly do..

 Such a possibility along with New Jersey’s list of bills should give all of us  pause for thought. 

REGISTRATION, GUN BANS AMONG 8 BILLS MOVING IN NJ

REGISTRATION, GUN BANS AMONG 8 BILLS MOVING IN NJ

 

If you missed the oral arguments offered by both sides today, then you can access the link below to listen to the arguments and/or download a PDF of the arguments. 

https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2021/20-843

This Wednesday, November 3rd, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the NRA backed case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. This is the first Second Amendment-related case that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear in over a decade, and it is centered around whether or not a "special need" is required for law-abiding citizens to be able to exercise their right to "bear arms". 

You will be able to hear oral arguments live on Wednesday by going to this link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx.