All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
Assembly debate over the microstamping bill did not happen today. The bill has been on 3rd Reading since January so the only reason I can see for wanting public discussion is waning support for the bill in the lower house.
To be helpful, I sent out a statewide press release, “Schimel’s Gun Control Proposal Lacks Public Support.“
Microstamping bill A-1157B is on the Assembly Debate List for today. The session is scheduled to start at 1:30pm with a live feed available here.
I cannot recall any other gun control bill being put on the debate list in the Assembly in the past 20 years. This is another sign the antis are having problems bringing it to the floor for a vote. Michelle Schimel must be getting desperate.
Some speculation that Mitt Romney could name his running mate before the GOP convention, “Romney could pick VP early, and cash in often“:
“This year, there is at least a small chance that Republican Mitt Romney might break with tradition and name his vice presidential choice earlier in the summer … The tradition is to announce the No. 2 around the time of the convention to inspire grassroots activists and seek maximum publicity for the final two-month push to the November 6 election. But in this case, the Romney team has discussed whether to announce the pick a few weeks earlier to generate buzz for his campaign during August and help raise campaign funds …”
While those may be valid reasons for announcing his pick early, a much better reason is to shore up his lackluster support among traditional GOP constituencies, including gun owners. Being the anti-Obama candidate is probably not enough to motivate undecided and independent voters to turn out and vote on election day. People would much rather have someone they support on the ballot, as opposed to just a choice between the lesser of two evils.
A good VP pick, with solid pro-gun credentials (not Chris Christie), would go a long way in helping Romney win this November.
In spite of having more than twice the money and a party enrollment advantage of more than 3-1, Democrat NYC Councilman Lew Fidler lost to newcomer Republican David Storobin in the SD-27 special election by 16 votes.
This is especially amusing as Fidler’s campaign paid for a pro-gun control mailer to the district which angered one of our members sufficiently enough to go out an vote against him.