All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
Urban Elephants reports that Congressman Pete King has been making noise again about running for Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand this fall. King has been a C/D rated by NRA over the past few election cycles so I have low expectations from him on gun issues.
He did get in a good shot at Michael Jackson and the media, though.
Some more press (and self-promotion) for the Jan. 12 lobby day at the LOB/CAP in today’s Post-Star, “Sportsmen prepare for meetings at Capitol.” There are buses from at least nine locations going there that I’m aware of.
Suffolk Co. Exec. Steve Levy has formed a gubernatorial exploratory committee. He did not have a good gun record when he was in the Assembly so I wouldn’t call him pro-gun. Considering the other two potential Democrat candidates, it’s probably better to just think of him the least offensive party candidate for now.
Now Mayor Mike wants to get into the illegal immigration debate:
“… He also said he would take on the national issue of immigration reform similar to the way he focused on gun control in his second term. The mayor established the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which has pushed its agenda on Capitol Hill and in local political races throughout the nation …”
Does that means he’s going to change the name to Mayors Against Illegal Guns and For Illegal Immigration?
According to the Star Gazette, the NRCC is spotlighting three Congressional races as possible Republican pickups this fall in districts 1, 19 and 29. That gives us these match-ups:
CD-1: F rated incumbent Tim Bishop v. Randy Altschuler. Bishop is a longtime anti, Altschuler is an unknown quantity.
CD-19: F rated incumbent John Hall v. Nan Hayworth. Hall accepted campaign money from the Brady’s but wasn’t actively promoting antigun legislation the last time I checked. Hayworth struck me as being a RINO but does not have any position statement on her campaign website about guns.
CD-29: C rated incumbent Eric Massa v. Tom Reed. Not sure what Massa did to earn his last NRA rating. He seemed concerned about being perceived as being pro-gun in the past. Reed is the Mayor of Corning, but his position on guns is unknown. He isn’t a member of MAIG.
When only 24% of the people strongly approve of the job you’re doing, people start to run away from you.
Some press mention of the Jan. 12 lobby day here and here.
Dick Nelson on events of the past decade, Part 1 and Part 2.
Sheldon Silver thinks Andrew Cuomo is going to run for Governor next year.
Daniel Donovan is considering running for state D.A. next year. He’s not pro-gun:
“Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressing his opposition to a law that would allow holders of permits to carry concealed weapons in their state to carry one in another state …”
California’s microstamping law goes into effect on January 1. How’s it working out?
“… The law is on hold as state officials work out regulations governing how new guns will be approved …”
Should we be optimistic that will happen any time soon?
“… California regulators have approved far fewer semi-automatic pistols for sale in the wake of a state law that required new safety devices in 2006 and 2007 …”
I’ll take that as a No. Are manufacturers going to comply or leave the market?
“… Now, with a new bullet-stamping law scheduled to take effect in 2010, the gun industry predicts it will introduce even fewer new models in California rather than install a device necessary to trace individual casings to a statewide database. “California will become like Cuba with cars,” said Lawrence Keane, senior counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents the gun industry. “You will only be able to get very old models of guns.” … Manufacturers say the microstamping technology is unproven and would add hundreds of dollars in new production costs to guns …”
Leave the market. Just as the antis intended.
Why does Chuck Schumer keep getting re-elected? Because he’s all over the place:
“… Sen. Charles Schumer is in Schenectady County today to complete his 11th year in a row of visiting all 62 counties in New York since he took office in 1999 …His office said this year’s tour included 13 trips to Albany; 16 to Erie; 17 to Monroe; 14 to Onondaga; and 22 to Westchester and Rockland counties. He made 11 trips to the North Country, 12 trips to the Southern Tier, 25 trips to the Capital Region, 25 trips to Western New York, 47 trips to the Hudson Valley, 26 trips to Central New York, and 25 trips to the Rochester-Finger Lakes.”
Giving credit where it’s due, Schumer is very, very good at being a politician. He’s made it seem like he’s personally connected with everybody and everything. He puts more effort into that than any other politician I know of. You never know where he’ll show up next, but wherever it is, he’ll claim credit for whatever good thing is happening or show concern for whatever crap is going on and promise to fix it.
How do you get an unrestricted NYC pistol license? Have your own radio show.
H/T to AR15.COM