2AWNY.COM calls on Central New Yorkers to obstruct unconstitutional state gun control enforcement using jury nullification

January 14, 2020 – SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After close to a decade of rule under the Cuomo regime, New York has seen the proposal and passage of unconstitutional gun control edicts explode. The primary tools used by the state to forcefully disarm and punish New York gun owners include the decades-old pistol permit regime and the seven-year-old SAFE Act. On Tuesday in downtown Syracuse, 2AWNY.COM called on Central New Yorkers to employ jury nullification as part of a multi-initiative strategy to halt state enforcement of these imaginary statutes.

“Both unconstitutional edicts have been and continue to be abused by county judges to erase Second Amendment civil rights as punishment for disfavored free speech,” 2AWNY.COM Civil Rights Advocate Steve Felano said. “Additionally, both edicts needlessly place citizens and police in dangerous, constitutionally dubious situations that only exist to appease progressive morality while doing nothing to secure public safety. Unfortunately for far-left progressive state legislators, the consent of New York juries is required to convict those who violate Albany’s imaginary gun laws. When a jury returns a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict even though jurors believe the defendant has broken an unconstitutional gun control law, Second Amendment jury nullification has occurred. The ‘Not Guilty’ verdict cannot be overturned, and jurors cannot be punished for returning that verdict. As part of its Year of Defiance Agenda 2020, meant to obstruct and frustrate the enforcement of New York State’s civilian disarmament regime, 2AWNY.COM is today calling on Central New Yorkers, and all New Yorkers, really, to practice Second Amendment jury nullification in response to state efforts to enforce unconstitutional gun control laws.”

“In the original Sixth Amendment, it says you have a right to trial by jury,” Attorney James Ostrowski, who overturned New York State’s first ever SAFE Act conviction, said. “That clearly meant at the time…that the jury had the right to judge the law if the application of the law to the facts is unjust. Not wholesale repeal and revision of laws, but when a particular prosecution was obviously not going to do justice in the particular case, the jury could say ‘yeah, okay, technically guilty, but, you know what, not guilty, go on about your business.’ I explain in the book judges have judicially repealed the Sixth Amendment. Now, you say, well, ‘judges can’t repeal the Sixth Amendment.’ Well, apparently, they have, they can, and they did. So, while I don’t recommend anybody engage in trial jury nullification, because that’s not the state of the law, I can recommend that people read the book and learn how judges…have improperly, judicially usurped the rights of the people to have a trial by jury, in which the jury can judge the law.”

“Analyzing New York State, you’re noticing that it’s more and more one-party rule, and progressive democrats have became in control, and they’re going to pass more and more aggressive gun laws,” Erie County Libertarian Party Chair and NY-27 Congressional Candidate Duane Whitmer said. “This is a way to fight back with the individuals. If I was to win in my next race, and become elected as a congressman, I swear on the oath to defend and uphold the Constitution. And in the Constitution is the Fifth and Sixth Amendment. We’ve seen progressive politicians slowly but surely whittle away our First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, we can go on all day with amendments they’ve slowly started to chip away. I plan on leading an educational campaign to teach the constituents and the voters that there’s another way to counter the progressive agenda of control, whether it’s gun control, or anything else they’re trying to pass, and that is jury nullification.”

To learn more about any of the above, please contact Steve Felano at (518) 852-1863 or [email protected].

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2AWNY is a force multiplier for the numerous Second Amendment civil rights advocacy enterprises forming the backbone of Western New York’s vibrant gun culture. We act as a 2A news and information distribution, policy analysis, and organizational driver for the many interest groups seeking to defend and expand Second Amendment civil rights throughout the region. 2AWNY is dedicated to assisting in the organization, promotion, and funding of legal challenges to the unconstitutional New York State gun control regime. We seek to make Western New York the epicenter of New York State’s Second Amendment civil rights renaissance. Learn more at WWW.2AWNY.COM.