All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
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.
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
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.
Assemblyman Robert Smullen has announced his campaign to replace outgoing Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in CD-21.
He’s a friend to the fine folks at Pine Tree Rifle Club so 2A supporters can get behind his campaign.
Saturday’s Newsbits:
Elections:
Jurisprudence:
Guns:
Legislation:
Politics:
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has announced her intention to run for Governor next year against Kathy Hochul.
Stefanik’s record on 2A is solid. My main concern is does she have the ability to win? I am not impressed with her pre-campaign announcement activities.
Back-bencher Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani defeated both Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa to become the next mayor of New York City.
The good news is that hopefully this will be the last we hear of Andrew Cuomo. His career will end with the sound of a wet fart which is what he deserves.
The bad news is that Mandani is an openly racist, openly antisemitic Marxist. He will bankrupt and burn the city trying to implement his ideology just like every other Marxist has. Frankly, the city deserves it as well.
Mandami has a proven antigun record and some are claiming he will become a new national leader on gun control. That is certainly possible, however, he wasn’t that in the state legislatgure. I’m thinking he will mostly focus on economic issues and push gun control only when a political opportunity arises.