Cuomo’s Gun Law Plays Well Downstate but Alienates Upstate

[Mr. Fife]

 

In large stretches of upstate New York, it is the reason Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is deeply unpopular. To many voters in New York City and its suburbs, it is one of his crowning achievements.

 

Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, made New York the first state to pass a broad package of new gun laws after the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. Seizing a singular political moment, he called it the Safe Act, and he implored Congress to follow his lead.

 

Nearly two years later, as he seeks a second term, Mr. Cuomo presents the act to his supporters as one of his greatest successes, and Democrats are assailing the governor’s Republican challenger, Rob Astorino, for being lax on guns. It remains one of the most far-reaching pieces of gun-control legislation passed in response to the Newtown shooting.

 

But in pushing for passage of strict new gun laws, Mr. Cuomo alienated a vocal constituency across upstate New York, a region he has otherwise wooed. In court, gun owners have challenged the constitutionality of the laws; on lawn signs and bumper stickers in places like the Catskills and western New York, they demand their repeal.

 

Counties, towns and villages have passed resolutions denouncing the laws, and some counties have even demanded that their official seals not be used on any paperwork relating to them. In response to an open records request, the governor’s office shared hundreds of pages of such resolutions, from far-flung places like the Adirondack town of North Hudson, with 238 residents, to more populous areas like Erie County.

 

“The calculation when it was passed was people were going to get mad for a little while and then get over it,” Stephen J. Aldstadt, the president of the Shooters Committee on Political Education, said. “I don’t think people are getting over it.” Despite its scope, the Safe Act was not everything it was originally intended to be, and there were stumbles. A provision limiting the size of gun magazines, for example, turned out to be unworkable.

 

Thirty-two days after the shooting in Newtown, on Jan. 15, 2013, Mr. Cuomo signed the act into law. The measure included an expanded ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as a broader requirement for background checks, and tougher penalties for gun crimes.

“The Safe Act really meets the test of good gun policy,” Leah Gunn Barrett, the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, said. “It keeps guns out of the wrong hands, and I think it does that quite effectively.”

 

The legislation also sought to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental illnesses by requiring mental health professionals to report to the authorities any patient who was likely to be dangerous. As a result, about 34,500 people in New York are now barred from having guns; some mental health advocates have expressed concern that too many people have been categorized as dangerous.

 

So far, New York lawmakers have allocated $34 million to cover the costs associated with the laws, such as information-technology upgrades, according to the state budget office.

 

Read more... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/nyregion/with-gun-act-cuomo-alienates-upstate-new-york-constituency.html?ref=nyregion&_r=1

[Elmer Fudd]

The article was on the front page of the New York Times today.

[DoverGunner]

Kinda like what Chicago likes the rest of Illinois does not like one bit and gets rammed down our throat .

[GTX63]

Real Clear Politics is showing Cuomo's lead over Astorino at 22%. Yes, like Il, all those counties with 2500 people don't add up against New York City.

[lostspring]

Real Clear Politics is showing Cuomo's lead over Astorino at 22%. Yes, like Il, all those counties with 2500 people don't add up against New York City.

I believe that this very situation will be the tipping point for the breaking up of states. High density population centers have taken over political control of states, ours included. I know this has been discussed before and all the monetary reasons why that is not a good idea but I,for one, am willing to give it a try. As long as one political party has total control over these areas there can be no chance of change ever. Just frustrated

[chislinger]

Downstaters could nullify that population problem if they actually went out and voted. I bet turnout in this election will be less than 50%, since it's not a presidential election year. Just think if downstate turned out at 75-80%, they'd take back control from Cook County. But they sit homr and let Madigan and Cullerton continue to run the state.

[lockman]

 

Real Clear Politics is showing Cuomo's lead over Astorino at 22%. Yes, like Il, all those counties with 2500 people don't add up against New York City.

 

 

I believe that this very situation will be the tipping point for the breaking up of states. High density population centers have taken over political control of states, ours included. I know this has been discussed before and all the monetary reasons why that is not a good idea but I,for one, am willing to give it a try. As long as one political party has total control over these areas there can be no chance of change ever. Just frustrated

 

And that is why the founders weighted the votes of property owners heavier than non-property owners. In theory a town's property owners can be stripped of their say over their properties or be subject to rent control imposed by the mass of renters. Sounds familiar doesn't it?