Gun Owners Refuse to Register Under New York Law
by Alex Newman
The
New American
After Democrats
in New York rammed a sweeping assault on the right to keep and bear
arms through the legislature that failed
to exempt police officers from the draconian restrictions, gun
owners and even some lawmakers are planning what has been dubbed
potentially the largest act of civil disobedience in state history.
According to news reports, gun rights activists are urging everyone
to defy far-left Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new registration mandate
while daring authorities to “come and take it.”
Analysts say the legislation, passed in a frenzy last week in the
wake of the Newtown shooting, represents the most brazen infringement
on the right to keep and bear arms anywhere in the nation. Among
other points, the so-called SAFE Act seeks to limit magazines to
just seven bullets, require virtually all of the estimated one million
semi-automatic rifles in the state to be registered with authorities,
mandate reporting of patients who express indications that they
may have thoughts about hurting themselves or others by doctors,
and more.
Aside from being unconstitutional, experts on gun violence also
point out that the draconian schemes are a bad idea: Studies have
repeatedly shown that more
guns lead to less crime, and the phenomenon is obvious across
America – just compare Chicago or D.C. to Alaska or Wyoming.
The mandated reporting requirements for doctors, meanwhile, have
come under fire from across
the political spectrum. Whether it will even be possible to enforce
the bill, however, remains to be seen.
Preparations are already being made for mass resistance. “I’ve heard
from hundreds of people that they’re prepared to defy the law, and
that number will be magnified by the thousands, by the tens of thousands,
when the registration deadline comes,’’ said President Brian Olesen
with American Shooters Supply, among the biggest gun dealers in
the state, in an interview with the New
York Post.
Even government officials admit that forcing New Yorkers to register
their guns will be a tough sell, and they are apparently aware that
massive non-compliance will be the order of the day. “Many of these
assault-rifle owners aren’t going to register; we realize that,’’
a source in the Cuomo administration told the Post, adding
that officials expect “widespread violations” of the new statute.
Threats of imprisoning gun owners for up to a year and confiscating
their weapons are already being issued by governor’s office, headed
by a rabid anti-Second Amendment extremist who suggested before
the bill passed that “confiscation”
of all semi-automatic rifles was being considered. If tens or even
hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens refuse to
comply, however, analysts say New York would either have to start
raising taxes and building a lot more prisons, or give up on the
scheme that experts say will do nothing to reduce violence and that
lawmakers
say is aimed at eventual confiscation.
Activists involved in the state-wide boycott against the unconstitutional
statute who spoke to the Post almost taunted authorities,
saying gun owners would essentially dare authorities to “come and
take it away.” According to the paper, leaders of some of the state’s
hundreds of gun clubs, dealers, and non-profit organizations, citing
the New York Constitution’s guarantee that gun rights “cannot be
infringed,” are currently involved in organizing the resistance.
Among the primary concerns is that, with registration, authorities
would know where to go for confiscation, an idea already proposed
openly by Governor Cuomo himself.
“They’re saying, ‘F--- the governor! F--- Cuomo! We’re not going
to register our guns,’ and I think they’re serious. People are not
going to do it. People are going to resist,” explained
State Rifle and Pistol Association President Tom King, who also
serves on the National Rifle Association board of directors. “They’re
taking one of our guaranteed civil rights, and they’re taking it
away.”
The NRA itself, while saying that it did not participate in organizing
resistance to the law, admitted that it was not surprised by the
open defiance among gun owners. “I will say this: Historic experience
here and in Canada shows that when you try to force gun owners into
a registration and licensing system, there’s usually mass opposition
and mass noncompliance,” NRA President David Keene told the Post.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult for the governor to get
mass compliance with this new law.”
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the rest of the article
January
26, 2013
Copyright
© 2013 The New American
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