All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg has filed an amicus brief in support of the defendant in Wolford v. Lopez. The Hawaiian law in question is similar to New York’s law prohibiting carrying firearms onto private property unless the property owner has previously consented.
I think SCOTUS is going to shoot down the law which will open up our law to a new legal challenge. We should get a decision by June.
Wednesday’s Newsbits:
Elections:
Jurisprudence:
Legislation:
Politics:
It occurs to me that the reason Bruce Blakeman is running for Governor is not because Republicans think he can defeat Kathy Hochul, but to retain/pick up GOP Congressional seats in Nassau and Westchester, maybe the Hudson Valley.
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik announced she is dropping out of the governor’s race and will not seek reelection to Congress.
Good riddance. Her campaign was laughably bad.
Roughly 3/4 of the population lives in Albany and south with 2/3 south of I-84. She made one appearance in Dutchess prior to officially announcing her campaign and one appearance in Rockland after. You cannot win by refusing to campaign where the voters actually live.
Saturday’s Newsbits:
Jurisprudence:
Legislation:
NRA:
Politics:
For only the second time an elected official from New York has publicly called for citizens to exercise their 2A rights for self-defense.
Inside this article from the Post is this statement from Councilwoman Inna Vernikov:
“Gun-toting Republican Brooklyn lawmaker Inna Vernikov won’t face repercussions for bringing a firearm to a pro-Palestinian college rally — despite tough talk from progressive City Council members … “Carrying a weapon into public assembly, especially an assembly which consists of masked supporters of ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ is not only appropriate, but is necessary,” she said. “With the incoming [Mayor-elect Zohran] Mamdani admin, where criminals will be set free and law-abiding citizens punished, I urge law-abiding New Yorkers to exercise our Second Amendment rights,” she said …”
She ain’t kidding either:
Lady. Lady. https://t.co/tpwD25pJfy pic.twitter.com/JGlHQT9oKY
— Yael Bar tur (@yaelbt) December 9, 2025
S-260A, Relates to Extreme Risk Protection Orders; defines “exception”, has been amended in Judiciary.
Companion A-3384 not in sync.
Nassau Co. Exec. Bruce Blakeman has announced his intention to seek the GOP nomination for governor next year, potentially setting up a primary against party favorite Elise Stefanik.
This was entirely predictable given the poor campaign performance Stefanik has given thus far. Roughly 2/3 of the voters live south of I-84 and 3/4 south of Albany. As far as I know Stefanik has made only one appearance in Dutchess and one in Rockland. A Republican needs at least a third of the City vote and I have not seen any indication from her that she is even interested in trying to garner that. Hence, Blakeman’s announcement.
Blakeman is not a friend of 2A but he may end up being the better choice for gun voters if Stefanik does not get her stuff together real soon.
I predict Zohran Mamdani will be the top gun salesman of the year throughout the next 4/8 years of his administration. Several things point towards this.
“… Jewish New Yorkers are arming themselves before an anti-Israel “mayor who despises us” takes the helm of New York City, several told The Post this week. Michael Bergida, who opened a gun shop in Marine Park, Brooklyn, called Samson Armory — a nod to the Biblical Israelite warrior and symbol of sheer strength — said his new business is booming. Bergida, 30, is arming everyone from fearful zaydes to terrified rabbis …”
“… New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is putting together a team, and one of the people on that team is Alex Vitale, a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and the author of a provocative book called: “The End of Policing.” That’s right: The new mayor has picked one of the leading intellectuals behind the Abolish the Police movement to work on community safety issues. That’s very interesting, of course, given that I was assured by my liberal friends that Mamdani isn’t actually serious about abolishing or defunding the police, and that when he tweeted over and over again that he wanted to do just that, he was — what, joking? Lying? Pay no attention to what the mayor of New York said five years ago, it’s ancient history! Surely, when Mamdani said “Queer liberation means defund the police” he didn’t mean “defund the police,” right? …”
“… Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani vowed Thursday to stop clearing homeless encampments throughout the Big Apple — ending a signature initiative pushed by the Adams administration since taking office. The Democratic Socialist flatly told reporters at an unrelated press conference in Manhattan that he would stop all sweeps of makeshift settlements come the new year when he is sworn in as mayor …”
People should have paid more attention to what Mamdani had actually been saying and advocating for in public before the election. The City is going back to the 70s, but without the cool soundtrack.
President Trump said he supports gun rights and now appears to be backing it up:
“… The Justice Department filed a friend of the court brief in support of the plaintiffs suing Hawaii over a new law that curbs where people with concealed carry permits can bring their firearms, making it a misdemeanor to carry on any private property without “unambiguous written or verbal authorization” or where “clear and conspicuous signage” grants permission from the owner …”
This is similar to New York’s law so a SCOTUS win in this case would affect us.
But it gets even better:
“The Justice Department plans to expand gun-rights protections with a new office in its civil rights division dedicated to enforcing the U.S. constitutional right to bear arms, according to plans shared with Congress and reviewed by Reuters. The office, called the Second Amendment Rights Section, expects to open on December 4 and will be dedicated to investigating local laws or policies limiting gun rights.”
There’s plenty of nonsense going on in the state that could, and should, be investigated for civil rights violations.