INCOHERENCE. Although the resolution adopted by our 13 leaders
was billed as “calling for repeal of the enactment of the New York SAFE Act,”
its actual demand was for repeal of unspecified “sections” of that
newly-enacted State law.
ATROCITIES, or multiple assaults against the English
language. “[T[he right of the
people to keep and bear arms is guaranteed as an individual right…and that is regarded as an inalienable right of the
people…”; “lawful ownership and use of firearms is…a valued tradition in Greene
County and that
the right to bear arms is exercised by many Greene Country residents for
which the County of
Greene derives…benefits from safe forms of recreation which includes hunting and target shooting”;
“our New York representatives could not and did not…receive the input of their
constituents regarding this matter which is the standard by which the Greene County Legislature holds
itself to when it
comes to the
enactment of such a controversial law and is a matter of simple due process”;
“the crafting of the…Act resulted in complex policy changes, many subject to
interpretation and are confusing to…officials who are required to enforce and explain
them”; “some areas of the legislation”; “there is
the potential of a significant financial impact on Greene County which will result due to sections of the Act which will
require additional manpower and computer systems, as well as the tax share our residents will
have to contribute if the proposed 2013-2014 budget spending of $36 million dollars for the implementation of
the…Act”; “…demand the
repeal of all sections of the…Act which we believe infringes upon the right of the people to keep
and bear arms; and is in our opinion unconstitutional….”
FATUITY. In whereassing that “the only persons who will
comply with the new high-capacity magazine ban are law-abiding citizens,
leaving the same high-capacity magazines in the hands of those who choose not
to obey the law,” our 13 legislators declared forthrightly that people who
disobey a law are law-breakers.
Duh. (And they made it sound as if high-capacity magazines are jointly
owned).
PREPOSTEROSITY. In
similar fashion, the 13 stalwart solons joined hands in asserting that the SAFE
Act “effectively turns countless New York State law-abiding gun owners into
criminals.” Laws cannot do
that. Laws can prohibit what
previously was legal (or the obverse).
People who violate a law (new or old) turn themselves into criminals.
EVASION. While charging that the
SAFE Act “places increased burdens…on the backs of law-abiding citizens,”
“turns countless New York State law-abiding gun owners into criminals” and “fails to offer any meaningful
solutions,” the resolute 13
neglected to offer a single word on behalf of those important judgments.
CONTRADICTION. While maintaining that the SAFE Act “fails to
offer any meaningful
solutions to gun violence,” the intrepid 13 also opined that “there are some
areas of the legislation that the Greene County Legislature finds
encouraging….” (No “area” was
specified).
IMPOSSIBLE
DEMAND. Whereas those 13 county governors demanded “repeal of all
the sections of the New York SAFE Act which we believe infringes [sic]
upon [sic] the right of the people to
keep and bear arms; and is [sic]
in our opinion unconstitutional under both the Federal and State Constitution [sic],” they did not identify those sections. They accordingly made it impossible for
the prospective repealers to comply.
` THE
OTHER VOICE
The
one legislator who voted against that memorable anti-SAFE Act resolution was
Vincent Seeley of Catskill. He
contended that the resolution would do “nothing but put more walls around
Greene County’s relationship with Albany”; that some of the Act’s provisions
“make sense”; that the constitutionality issue belongs to the courts; that
“Instead of asking for a repeal, we need to work collaboratively to amend the
areas that don't work for us”; and instead of squandering time and resources on
this ill-conceived repeal campaign, Greene County’s legislators ought to be
concentrating on jobs and the economy.
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