All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
Carl Paladino opens up on Steve Levy:
“… If Democrat Steve Levy could take time off from admiring himself in the mirror he would realize he has no chance to win to the Republican primary with his liberal record and longstanding support for gay marriage, gun confiscation and abortion on demand …”
He’s basically right. During his time in the Assembly Levy was part of the Borg and went along with whatever Shelly wanted on guns.
Now that it appears Gov. Paterson won’t be calling a special election to fill CD-29, David Koon has decided not to run for it and will instead go for another term in Albany.
With that out of the way, the question is now will he reintroduce all the antigun bills he killed last month? I like this observation from Mustard Street:
“… The Democratic Party tolerates David Koon as someone who can milk a sympathy vote to hold that seat in the Assembly …”
He also milks sympathy votes for the antigun agenda. Gun Control Day is two weeks away. Plenty of time to resubmit bills.
The Utica City Council is considering two resolutions in support of Mayor Bloomberg’s/MAIG’s efforts.
Resolution 13 is in support of HR-2159, prohibiting anyone on the terrorism watch list from buying a gun. Nobody knows how many people are on this list, how they got there or how to get off it. Ted Kennedy was denied boarding at an airport because he was on the list.
Resolution 14 is in support of HR-2324, closing the so-called “gun show loophole.” Basically prohibits private gun sales.
A copy of both resolutions are available on the NYSRPA website here.
Armed citizen in Sullivan Co.:
“A Parksville man shot and killed a large adult black bear that was menacing his daughter at her Parksville home Sunday. The woman was inside with her four children. The bear attempted to break into a bedroom window of the home and swatted at the dog on the porch, said State Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman Wendy Rosenbach. EnCon and State Police were called to the scene, but before they arrived, the woman called her father, who came over. He fired a warning shot, but the bear did not budge, so he shot and killed the animal …”
Carl Paladino is set to kick off his campaign today. We should be able to tell soon whether or not he’s serious both about running for Governor and about appealing to gun owners. His website has changed Sportsmen for Carl to Gun Owners for Carl.
Broome County D.A. Gerald Mollen plans to push for statewide renewable pistol licenses according to WRNG. I don’t think he’ll get very far pushing the state reps. from the county to advance that agenda, but he’s going to have to go in the next election. His term is up in 2011.
Richard Brodsky has formally declared he is running for Attorney General.
He’s not pro-gun, but he’s nowhere near as bad as Eric Schneiderman who is also thinking about running.
I’ve had candidates inquire about endorsements for this falls elections for almost a year now and we’re still eight months out from the elections. Contrast that to the Republicans who can’t even find candidates to run in all statewide races. They’re really digging around the bottom of the barrel for people willing to run under their banner.
NewsCopy has a theory on this: Voter suppression strategies relying on less-than-competitive top-of-the-ticket races to ensure that Democrats don’t overcome Republicans and they can win back control of the State Senate. While I believe this theory does have some merit, I think the driving force behind their problems are the party leaders, hacks and consultants running the GOP. They’re totally out of touch with the concerns of the average person.
Take a look at the campaign websites for Rick Lazio, Steve Levy and Carl Paladino. Levy and Paladino are trying to organize issues-based coalitions. Lazio isn’t. All he lists are endorsements by politicians and party functionaries. Where is the endorsement by Joe Citizen? When was the last time a statewide Republican (or Democrat) candidate actually tried going to the people for support? The present tea party surge should provide a golden opportunity for the GOP to pick up seats top to bottom all across the state. Right now it looks like they’re going to blow it.
Resolution INTRO 6-6 opposing antigun bills A-1093A/S-1715A (gun dealer liability) and A-2884/S-1712 (gun shows) has been introduced to the Erie Co. legislature.
One of the big antis in the Assembly will be in a primary this September. Harvey Weisenberg is being challenged by former county legislator Jeff Toback for the Democrat nomination. Weisenberg has carried the mandatory storage bill (currently A-5844B) for years and gives the same BS speech on the floor about how it’s not a gun control bill.