Thursday’s Newsbits:
Gun Industry:
- Remington Arms declares bankruptcy despite surging gun demand
- Remington to seek bids for assets ahead of auction
Jurisprudence:
Legislation:
NRA:
Category: State Legislation
Kaplan floor speech on S-7762A
Senator Anna Kaplan speaks on the floor in support of her bill S-7762A, the “Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receiver Act”:
A-9903A amended
“Ghost guns” passes Senate
Legislative update:
- S-7762, Enacts the “Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receiver Act”, passed Senate. I was watching livestream and it was initially set aside. They passed it after I stopped watching so I don’t have the vote count.
- S-7763A, Enacts the “Jose Webster Untraceable Firearms Act”, passed Senate 43-17. No discussion or explanation of votes.
Here is the press release from sponsor Brad Hoylman, “New York State Senate Passes The Jose Webster Untraceable Firearms Act, The Nation’s Toughest Ghost Gun Law.“
Newsbits
Thursday’s Newsbits:
Elections:
Jurisprudence:
Legislation:
- State assemblywoman introduces proposal to take guns away from peace officers
- Bill to ban armed peace officers from carrying guns draws fire from Suffolk sheriff
NRA:
Bills moving in Senate
Legislative update:
- S-35, Clarifies the definition of imitation weapon, passed Senate. Companion is A-7355.
- A-8078C, Permits 4-H certified shooting sports instructors to supervise and instruct persons under sixteen years of age at shooting ranges, substituting for S-6401B, passed Senate. A-8078C passed the Assembly in February. The bill now heads to the Governor for signing.
- S-7929, Relates to notifying certain individuals of their ability to seek an Extreme Risk Protection Order, advanced to 3rd Reading. Companion is A-10487.
A-7763A
Codes meeting farce
As expected Senate Codes Committee moved to advance antigun bills S-7762 and S-7763 to Rules.
For S-7762 the only discussion was both Senators Anna Kaplan and Brian Kavanagh thanking people for supporting the bill. Senator Zellnor Myrie declared he would support the bill, but asked one question pertaining to disposal. The bill was then voted on with Tom O’Mara announcing his No vote.
The committee moved on to S-7763. There were no remarks at all. It was then voted on with O’Mara again announced his No vote. That was it.
Remember this at election time.
Next gun control push in Albany begins
Now that the Republican’s phony display of support for 2A is over, it is gun control advocates turn. On Monday the Senate Codes Committee will take up and advance the following bills:
- S-7762, Enacts the “Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receiver Act.”
- S-7763, Enacts the “Jose Webster Untraceable Firearms Act.”
As there is no opposition to this, both bills will be passed on by the Senate, possibly as early as Friday. From there they will move on to the Assembly where there is also no opposition. As the scheduled legislative calendar went out the window months ago, I do not know when exactly they will get around to taking them up.
The Codes meeting starts at 1:00pm and will be live streamed off the Senate homepage.
Republican Political Theater
The Assembly Codes Committee will meet tomorrow morning at 9:00am.
In an annual event several of the (useless) Republicans have asked their pro-gun bills be on the agenda for discussion: A-1755, A-2487, A-4428, A-4496, A-5376 and A-5440. They’re not the least bit serious about any of them. This is nothing more than cheap political theater so that they can go home to their districts and say they’re standing up for 2A.
If Republicans really wanted to stand up for the Second Amendment there are two things they would be doing right now:
- Elected representatives and party officials would be all over in the media talking up the failure of the state’s gun control laws and demanding restoration of our civil rights and implementation of right-to-carry.
- Assembly Republicans would make Motions for Discharge on the chamber floor for their bills. This is an attempt to bypass Codes and bring bills up directly for a full house vote. This is what antigun advocates did for years in the Senate when the Republicans were in charge. It won’t work as the Democrat Majority would vote along party lines to block it. What is would do is force the antis to publicly defend their position in the face of increased shootings across the state and the obvious failure of Governor Cuomo’s SAFE Act.
Republicans won’t do either of these. While they may be personally pro-gun, they lack the intellectual and intestinal fortitude to defend their beliefs. If they cannot do that there is no reason to vote for them.
Committee proceedings will be streamed live here.