Pangs of regret

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Some Republicans are beginning to think that voting for the SAFE Act was a bad political move.

First up, Senator Phil Boyle releases this statement:

“… “The so-called SAFE act was a mistake. Its passage lacked transparency and public input and its wording was ill-conceived and of questionable legality,” said Senator Phil Boyle.  “Lawmakers like myself might have caught these mistakes if we were given more than two hours to read the bill.  A good leader admits a mistake and works to rectify it.  That is what I am doing.” …”

Translation: my constituents are pissed and I’m trying to cover my ass with this bullshit statement.

Next, freshman Assemblyman Bill Nojay tells Fred Dicker what he thinks of Dean Skelos:

“… In a rare break with party unity, Nojay described Skelos to The Post as “a failed leader” and declared, “He has to go.”  “Dean Skelos has repeatedly failed to defend Republican values and assist his fellow Republicans running for office, whether it’s his supporting a $2 billion tax hike, how he handled gay marriage, and now the gun issue,” Nojay said …”

Now Dean Skelos comes out of hiding to issue a statement:

“Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said today that he expects significant changes to the gun-control law passed in January, specifically targeting the provision that lowers the number of bullets in a magazine from 10 to seven.  Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has indicated that the law passed Jan. 15 might face just some minor changes. Skelos, the Republican from Nassau County, said he would hope there would be more substantial changes.  “I think they are going to be more than technical,” Skelos told reporters of the changes. “I think we’re going to look at the size of the clips, a number of other issues – protections within your home.” …”

Yeah right.  He knows that neither Shelly nor Andy are likely to go along with that.  Like Boyle he’s looking for some political cover.

Bill Nojay’s radio show

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Audio from yesterday’s Bill Nojay Show where he talks about lobby day and the rally. Good commentary on getting the permit and Gov. Cuomo’s efforts to undermine everything.

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Legislative Report #4

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Legislative Report #4 is now online.

Rally aftermath

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Media coverage:

How many showed up:


Largest gun rally ever

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Approximately 12,000 people showed up for lobby day today.  Capitol Park was overflowing and people were waiting up to 1.5 hours to get into the Legislative Office Building.  It was the largest political gathering of gun owners anywhere.

Gov. Cuomo made it a point to be as far away from Capitol as he could be.  He was doing something on Long Island today.  However, there is no way he could have missed it with all the local and national media coverage it received.  It’s going to be hard for him and his media allies to keep saying the public overwhelmingly supports him on this issue.

Hooray for Hollywood

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Nothing short of total repeal is acceptable.

What Would You Do With $36 Million?

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But Cuomo supports gun control

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Politico headline, “Andrew Cuomo’s new problems: Bad headlines, Hillary Clinton“:

“Andrew Cuomo’s smooth ride as New York’s governor – high approval numbers, flattering newspaper coverage, little by way of fierce opposition – has suddenly hit a rough patch … generally positive media coverage of the governor has turned sour in recent weeks, with stories that reinforce criticism that Cuomo is too controlling and either insufficiently liberal or trying too hard to placate his skeptics on the left … a pair of countervailing narratives about Cuomo have begun to gel.  The first is that because he has a problem on the left – a notion fueled by a handful of progressive commentators – he tossed out an array of liberal wish-list policies in the last few months to counter it.  They included his gun control bill … That, in turn, prompted another reaction: Republicans in the northern, rural part of the state have been vocal in anger over his gun control legislation. (Cuomo initially suggested that “confiscation” was an option.) …”

And yet some media outlets continue to push the lie that his gun control law has overwhelming public support.  It’s starting to stink just like I said it would.

Gun Lobby 1, Unions 0

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Gun lobby day is set for this Thursday in Albany and it looks like we’re going to have a good turnout which apparently has both Obama and Cuomo worried.  SEIU was planning on busing people in for a counter-protest, but that apparently has been called off.  According to Fred Dicker:

“… many opponents of Cuomo’s measure viewed the SEIU rally as an attempt to provoke a confrontation.  Most of SEIU’s membership is black and Hispanic, while most of the opponents of the Cuomo law are white.  Advocates on both sides of the issue were concerned that any confrontation would be seen as having racial overtones.  As word of the planned counter-rally spread, the Albany police and aides to Cuomo agreed there was the potential for a serious confrontation …”

While I believe there could have been some legitimate concerns over a confrontation, I do not agree at all with the racial aspects.  There are several other things working against a union protest which Fred doesn’t mention that likely had a lot more do with their decision to back off:

  1. Guns are not their issue.  While unions do have a proven ability to turn (paid) people out for collective bargaining and budget negotiations, there’s no government cheese on the table for RKBA issues.  Why should their members show up?
  2. Many union members are also gun owners.  There’s been blowback from them concerning using union dues to promote a non-union issue.
  3. Remington employees in Illion are represented by the United Mine Workers.  Was SEIU planning on protesting the UMWA?
  4. There are far more gun owners in the state than SEIU members and they would probably have been far outnumbered, thus making the union look weak and affecting their ability to lobby their real issues later on.

Instead, the Obama/Cuomo/antigun cabal are going for an old standby: celebrity astroturf.  According to the Daily News:

“A new coalition of activists, unions and celebrities has formed to hit back against the vocal opposition to Gov. Cuomo’s recently approved gun-reform law, sources told the Daily News … A series of public events are being planned across the Empire State to tout the advantages of the reform bill, which the Legislature approved last month.  Among the celebrities said to have joined the nascent effort are hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, actor Ed Norton and the Rev. Al Sharpton …”

Nobody is going to be impressed with those fools.  Worse (for them), is the more the public finds out about SAFE, the less they like it.  So more power to them.

/em