Here’s our press release on microstamping:
“The State Senate’s refusal to act upon a useless and purely politically correct bill on Tuesday was a victory for all New Yorkers. Bill S-6005A would have prevented honest citizens from exercising their right to own handguns for self-defense. The Senators who spoke in favor of passage demonstrated their complete lack of common sense and utter contempt for our civil rights. Even more disgraceful was Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s shameless attempts to buy passage of this legislation with the implied promise of providing financial support to the re-election campaigns of Senators who support the bill. The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association thanks Senator Dean Skelos and his conference for doing the right thing and not supporting this bill, along with Senators William Stachowski, Darrel Aubertine and David Valesky for putting principle above party politics and voting against S-6005A.”
Aubertine sent out his own press statement yesterday:
“New York State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine today said the lack of votes for proposed microstamping legislation on the Senate floor is a victory for Upstate New York, law abiding gun owners and our economy. He stood with fellow gun owners and sportsmen in voting against legislation to require new semi-automatic pistols to have micro-stamping technology that marks ammunition …”
Liz Benjamin brings up the topic of Bloomberg’s attempts to influence votes:
“The near-defeat of the microstamping bill yesterday may very well signal the end of the long – and lucrative- relationship between Mayor Bloomberg and the Senate Republicans in a crucial election year when the minority can ill-afford to lose the billionaire mayor’s financial support … [Senator Tom] Libous privately argued to members of his conference that Bloomberg, who has contributed $1.2 million to the Senate GOP since 2003, is unlikely to continue his support given the close split in the chamber and should therefore not be put ahead of the gun lobby, which not only has deep pockets, but also passionate grassroots advocates in crucial upstate districts …”
Bloomberg may have the cash, but he cannot deliver votes at election time.