Author: admin

NRA endorsement

On: By: admin

NRA endorsed The Donald yesterday.  From what I have seen gun owners are not jumping for joy over the choice between him and Hillary.

Trump’s record on guns can at best be called mixed.  NRA is making Justice Scalia’s replacement the issue and pitched him as being more likely to nominate pro-gun justices to SCOTUS than Hillary.  That is a hard sell and given Trump’s past political history is very much debatable.

It won’t matter much here in New York anyway.  With the Democrats 2-1 enrollment advantage Hillary should easily win the state.

Judge strikes down D.C. “may issue” law

On: By: admin

Some more good news from the courts, a federal judge has struck down as likely unconstitutional the Washington D.C. “may issue” CCW law:

“… “The enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table,” [U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon] wrote in a 46-page opinion, quoting a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2008 in another District case that established a constitutional right to keep firearms in one’s home.  Leon said that the right applies both inside and outside the home.  “The District’s understandable, but overzealous, desire to restrict the right to carry in public a firearm for self-defense to the smallest possible number of law-abiding, responsible citizens is exactly the type of policy choice the Justices had in mind,” he wrote …”

Neither this nor the Peruta case in the 9th Circuit directly affect New York, but they might have some reference value in future court cases.

9th Circuit rules 2A applies to gun sales

On: By: admin

A three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court issued a ruling that “the right to purchase and sell firearms is part and parcel of the historically recognized right to keep and bear arms.”

Link to Second Amendment Foundation’s press release.

Link to court decision.

Clinton/Warren ticket?

On: By: admin

SAFE didn’t help Skelos

On: By: admin

Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos was convicted of corruption.

His claim that he showed “courage” in passing the SAFE Act apparently did not move the judge as Skelos received a 5 year prison sentence plus $500,000 fine. Junior got a 6.5 year sentence for his part in the scheme.

Parting shot

On: By: admin

Assemblyman Steve Katz is not running for re-election so he lets fly with his opinions on Albany politics:

Steve’s comments are right on the money.

One note, with respect to all the junk bills that come up, the Republicans should learn something from this. The Democrats do this to appeal to their base, raise money and push the issue along. They do the same just about every year in the Senate trying to move a couple of antigun bills with a Motion for Committee Hearing/Motion for Discharge. There is no reason the Republicans could not do the same in the Assembly. The fact that they don’t is why they are down to so few members.

Democrat (Majority?) Leader Schumer

On: By: admin

According to this article in the Post, Chuck Schumer is set to become Senate Democrat Leader when the 115th Congress convenes next January.

Hopefully he will be Minority Leader, not Majority Leader, next year.  Stupidity surrounding The Donald may have put Congressional control in play.

Gary Johnson and #NeverTrump

On: By: admin

It was inevitable that the Libertarian Party would try and capitalize on the #NeverTrump movement.

Historically while the party has a strong platform on limited government and individual rights, the LP has long suffered from a leadership less interested in electing people to public office and more in ideological purity. This can be seen in their lack of candidate quality control. Gary Johnson is one of their more reasonable candidates having served two terms as New Mexico Governor. Whether he can generate a lot of new support now remains to be seen.

They brought this on themselves

On: By: admin

With both Ted Cruz and John Kasich ending their campaigns The Donald has pretty much wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination.  I suspect this will go very badly for them even if he wins.

Of course, the GOP has brought this on themselves both at the New York state and national level.  Their cowardice, incompetence and complacency are to blame.  I would like to think that maybe Trump’s behavior is going to change, but at the moment that is not happening.

In any event, here is some commentary from people who think Trump can win in November:

Gibson bows out

On: By: admin

Congressman Chris Gibson has decided against a 2018 run for Governor.

That leaves Weschester County Executive Rob Astorino as the strongest likely challenger for Governor Cuomo in ’18.  Each candidate had their owns strengths: Gibson being a somewhat “moderate” Republican and Astorino being better known in the NYC metro area.  It is good that he decided to end it now because we do not need a primary contest.  Personally I would have gone with Rob over Chris, but either would be an improvement over the incumbent.