It isn’t just conservative pro-gun extremists who oppose New York State’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 — or SAFE Act — as Governor Andrew Cuomo would have you believe. A bipartisan group of Second Amendment supporters attended a Challenge NY SAFE Act Rally in Brunswick yesterday, urging supporters to voice their concerns through the power of elections, and to recruit others to do the same.
Several Republican candidates and/or state lawmakers spoke at the rally, including former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Chemung County Sheriff and candidate for Lieutenant Governor Chris Moss, Senator Kathy Marchione, and Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin.
Marchione started a petition almost immediately after passage of the SAFE Act, garnering over 40,000 signatures in its first day.
McLaughlin helped shed light on a document that demonstrated that, as bad as the SAFE Act was, lawmakers in New York wanted to go even more extreme by confiscating guns.
At the rally, Bruno urged attendees to “push back” against their liberties being eroded, repeating the phrase “We the people.”
Democrats were on hand for the rally as well. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple let the crowd know he opposes the law.
But it wasn’t just Republicans who appeared to speak, there were also some Democrats on hand, including Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, who told the crowd he didn’t agree with the legislation, claiming, “We’ve turned a lot of law abiding citizens into criminals.”
Apple also said the majority of crimes committed with weapons were done with illegal weapons.
“[NY Safe Act] lured people into a false sense of security,” Apple said, adding the government, if allowed to, will take away people’s rights little by little.
Democrat Assemblyman John McDonald voted for the SAFE Act but said he was there to listen and learn. He added that his constituents have “every right to be upset” about gun control efforts in New York.
Perhaps Governor Cuomo would do well to follow their lead and try to listen and learn.
Cross-posted at the Mental Recession
