All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
Media reports indicate Rick Lazio has chosen Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards to be his running mate. An official announcement is supposed to come on Thursday.
Edwards himself is pro-gun and does have a personal interest in guns and hunting. However, this does not change the core problem with Rick Lazio, which is Rick Lazio himself.
According to The Capitol, Republicans are considering making an effort to oust Carolyn McCarthy. From, “In Nassau, Emboldened Republicans Reconsider McCarthy Challenge“:
“… In years past, Republicans have struggled to find candidates to run against “Saint Carolyn,” so dubbed both for her nurse-like demeanor (she is, in fact, a licensed nurse) and for her life story—she ran for Congress after her husband and son were shot by a crazed gunman on the Long Island Rail Road … But last year, Nassau Republicans retook the county executive, county comptroller and the majority in the county legislature. That has helped convince [Joe] Mondello and other local Republicans that McCarthy can beat beaten, despite her years of big victories …”
The reason for her years of big victories were largely due to the losers the GOP put up against her. The district originally had been evenly split with Republican-Democrat enrollment. It now has a small Democrat advantage. If the GOP made a real effort to defeat her there’s a good chance they could have done it. She’s a single issue candidate who has coasted along without having to defend her record. What else does she talk about besides guns? What are her accomplishments?
So are Republicans going to make a serious effort to get rid of her now? I’m thinking not.
“… some wonder if Mondello, despite his protestations, is holding his fire. New York is likely to lose at least one congressional seat in the next round of redistricting. Since Rep. Pete King is seen as likely to find his district combined with another, that could put King in the same district as another Republican, if McCarthy loses this year. That could make for some awkward times in Nassau come 2012 …”
This I do not like. New York is probably going to lose two or three congressional seats, not just one.
On a more positive note:
“… Still, the last term for McCarthy has not been an easy one. She had back surgery earlier this year, which severely limited her mobility for months. Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, an ally who had taken McCarthy under his wing, died, and Murtha’s former staffer-turned-defense-lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, who used to be a big donor to McCarthy’s re-election campaigns, shut down his firm in the wake of a federal investigation. Plus, the issue of gun safety, which afforded McCarthy a national profile, has faded from public consciousness. McCarthy associates say that she has seen a softening in her numbers in the district in recent months …”
They left out the strong anti-Democrat, anti-incumbent mood. Most pundits and polls I’ve seen predict significant gains for Republicans this fall. A halfway decent candidate could defeat McCarthy if the Republicans make that effort.
It took balls for Steve Levy to attack Rick Lazio on guns. Capitol Confidential reports on a mailing the Levy campaign did to members of the GOP State Committee. Here is a copy of the postcard in PDF format. CapCon does correctly point out that Levy fails to mention the F I gave him in 2002.
Incorporation is coming and Mayor Mike knows it. From the NY Times, “Bloomberg Plan Would Simplify Gun-Permits“:
“The Bloomberg administration announced on Friday that it was moving to simplify the process for New Yorkers to obtain gun permits, thus speeding up a set of byzantine licensing requirements that gun-rights advocates have long criticized as among the most restrictive in the country. Administration officials said that the move was forged by a City Hall focused on efficiency and that it would allow for better investigation of applicants who might not qualify for a gun while more swiftly satisfying those fit to have them …”
Bullshit.
“… “If I were working for the mayor in New York, in the legal department particularly, I’d be saying: ‘Are we sure we can defend these laws? Are there things to do, ahead of time, that will make it easier for us to defend them?’ ” said Paul Helmke, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “I would be surprised if that were not the thinking.” …”
Helmke speaks the truth (for once).
They can’t defend the Sullivan Act. It’s been kept alive through decades of poor legal challenges and bad court decisions. None of this addresses the core issue of discretion and the need for a license just for possession of a handgun. This is just an attempt to buy time. New York operates under the notion that there is no right to own a gun. Incorporation will change that and force New York, including New York City, to accept that.
From Bloomberg.com, “Kagan Was ‘Not Sympathetic’ as Law Clerk to Gun-Rights Argument“:
“Elena Kagan said as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk in 1987 that she was “not sympathetic” toward a man who contended that his constitutional rights were violated when he was convicted for carrying an unlicensed pistol. Kagan … made the comment to Justice Thurgood Marshall, urging him in a one-paragraph memo to vote against hearing the District of Columbia man’s appeal. The man’s “sole contention is that the District of Columbia’s firearms statutes violate his constitutional right to ‘keep and bear arms,’” Kagan wrote. “I’m not sympathetic.” …”
I figured that sooner or later something like this would turn up.
A-7183C, Prohibits the possession of concealed firearms in any national park or national wildlife refuge system, is on the Tourism committee agenda for Monday, May 17.
