David Englehardt at the Federalist writes, “Cuomo’s Idea To Let Teachers Decide When To Yank Guns From People’s Homes Is Dumb”:
“… Cuomo proposes to take guns from the homes of troubled students by government fiat. That is, if the student’s teacher senses there is a problem with the student, he or she would contact the authorities to have the family’s weapons removed. Specifically, if there is a “problem student” teachers would be able to petition a court to remove guns from the student’s home … I want safer schools. I want kids who need help to get it. I’d also like to imagine the best of the governor, but I’m not sure how this legislation can actually protect students in a way that’s sensible, positive, or helpful …”
The author lacks the most basic understanding of the Albany legislative process.
First off, most bills are written to be as vague and all encompassing as possible. A-11148 is designed to affect as many people as possible in both good and bad ways.
Second, the bill in question isn’t meant to help kids or make schools safer. The goal is to make gun ownership as difficult and unappealing as possible for ordinary people because the Governor believes that doing so would help him politically.
Third, why on earth would anyone think the Governor is operating now with the best of intentions? Trying to get a new bill introduced in the closing days of the legislative session is never a good sign as it is generally done to limit public discussion and debate. This is especially true in a state known for “The Big Ugly” where all sorts of shit nobody has read is passed into law in the wee hours of the morning on the last session day.
The whole business surrounding this proposal is really very easy to understand: Cuomo is bringing up this issue (and others) now in an attempt to defect attention away from his primary opponent Cynthia Nixon. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.