“We are convinced that only law abiding gun owners will be affected by these new provisions, while criminals will still have and use whatever weapons they want.”
Former longtime cop and current county executive candidate Legislator Ed Day (R) and Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco (D) are opposed to many features of the NY SAFE gun law
Law enforcement associations have been out front blasting Governor Cuomo’s hastily passed NY SAFE Act that makes New York the gun control capital of the United States.
It’s not only the fact that the law failed to make exemptions for active duty and retired police officers, that has them annoyed, it’s some of the contents of the bill itself and the way Cuomo used extraconstitutional means to pass it in the middle of the night. Cuomo utilized a “message of necessity,” normally reserved for genuine emergencies, to bypass the mandatory three days of debate on the bill. He also failed to consult with concerned parties about how the bill should be constructed.
The NY SAFE Act dominated discussion at a weeklong conference of the New York State Sheriff’s Association in January. Nearly 90 percent of the sheriffs present–52 of 58 including Rockland Sheriff Louis Falco–asked for changes to be made in the law. Donald B. Smith, president of the Legislative Committee of the Association, said, “There are…a number of provisions which cause us concern, and which we think should be revisited.”
While praising some features of the bill, the Sheriffs Association criticized many other important aspects. A position paper agreed upon by the 52 sheriffs stated, “We have reviewed other provisions of the new law, and strongly believe that modifications are needed to clarify the intent of some of these new provisions and that revisions are needed to allow sheriffs to properly enforce the law in their counties.”
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