Responding to Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State Address, Second Amendment group presents gun control resistance road map

January 9, 2020 – BUFFALO, N.Y. – As part of his 2020 State of the State address on Wednesday, additional ineffectual civilian disarmament proposals were prominently featured in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s remarks. The latest unconstitutional infringements backed by Cuomo include Proposal 1 and Proposal 18 of his State of the State Agenda. These initiatives conjure out of thin air completely imaginary, draconian restrictions on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms that directly violate the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court’s District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago decisions.

“Proposal 1 purportedly aims to ‘prevent individuals who commit a serious crime in another state from owning a gun in New York,’” 2AWNY.COM Civil Rights Advocate Steve Felano said. “This proposal is currently drafted in an overly vague manner that would allow the state substantial latitude in articulating which crimes from another state equate to ‘serious crimes’ in New York. This wide latitude would obviously be abused by the state to simply disarm as many people as humanly possible for frivolous reasons, just as they have done with the pistol permit regime…Proposal 18 claims to ‘ban untraceable ghost guns by requiring firearm parts be treated as guns and have a serial number.’ Proposal 18 has been drafted in an overly broad manner that allows the state to continually change the definition of a ‘major firearm component.’ This allows legislators to conclude that any piece of inert polymer, metal, or other material is a ‘major firearm component,’ effectively banning firearms ownership in New York State.”

“Gun control is a red herring and a scapegoat,” Attorney James Ostrowski, who overturned New York State’s first ever SAFE Act conviction, said. “Gun control is really a fraud, it’s a hoax, it has nothing to do with the history of the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has very little to do with street crime. The Second Amendment is about allowing the people in a democracy to retain sovereignty over the government…Progressivism – the belief that big government can solve all of our problems – it fails. The progressive never wants to change their mind because progressivism is not rational – it’s all explained in my book – so they need scapegoats. What’s the scapegoat? Guns. Pieces of metal are the cause of all of our problems…Gun control is a scapegoat for real problems. It means the real problems are unsolved because progressives like Cuomo have no answers.”

“New York State is one of the highest taxed states in the nation, one of the least business friendly states in the nation, biggest population loss in the nation, wealth loss in the nation. People with money are leaving the state, Donald Trump himself included, because the taxation and regulations here are so overbearing. Farmers killing themselves at an astounding rate. So what does Andrew Cuomo decide to do? Focus on that? No. He’s going to focus on firearms. My request to Cuomo is to do your job that some people, not me, but some people did elect you to do. And that’s govern the state and make it better. All he’s doing is making it worse.”

In response to the latest infringements proposed by Cuomo, Civil Rights Advocate Steve Felano presented 2AWNY.COM’s Year of Defiance Agenda. It will act as a road map for Second Amendment advocates across New York State to aggressively obstruct, frustrate, and defy Albany’s mindless civilian disarmament program. The Agenda includes the following initiatives:

1 – Right to Keep and Bear Arms (RKBA) Offensive: Recent appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuits have produced conservative majorities likely to provide enhanced deference to the Second Amendment. The duration of these appointments will conceivably favor pro-Second Amendment court cases for several decades. Therefore, 2AWNY.COM is extremely pleased today to launch its ‘Right to Keep and Bear Arms Offensive.’ This sustained campaign will grow exponentially in intensity and scope over the next 30 years and beyond. The RKBA Offensive will make use of a constantly expanding pro-Second Amendment legal team, aggressive lawsuits, jury nullification, expansion of local government autonomy, law enforcement discretion, and other disruptive non-compliance, non-enforcement, and repeal tactics. Whenever possible, the RKBA Offensive will completely reverse Albany’s imperial gun control edicts and significantly neutralize their unconstitutional and punitive impacts on all New Yorkers.

2 – First Amendment Defense: Under the Cuomo regime, brazen, unconstitutional retaliation by state government against Second Amendment free speech has skyrocketed. Late last month, the National Rifle Association announced intent to file a Second Amended complaint against Cuomo, the Department of Financial Services, and former Department Superintendent Maria T. Vullo. The complaint describes tactics that vastly overstep the Department’s regulatory mandate, seek to suppress Second Amendment free speech, and retaliate against the NRA and others for their political advocacy. Additionally, 2AWNY.COM has become aware of potential instances of protracted, unconstitutional state surveillance against New York Second Amendment advocates. We’ve also become aware of the Cuomo regime’s possible intent to leverage a newly drafted state domestic terrorism law to classify Second Amendment advocates as domestic terrorists to pulverize their free speech protections. For these reasons, we are today launching a watchdog group leveraging a range of legal and investigative tools to uncover and combat instances of Second Amendment free speech retaliation by the Cuomo regime.

3 – Gun Confiscation Review Board: After close to a decade of Cuomo paternalism, New York has seen the volume of unconstitutional firearms confiscation by state government explode. The primary tools used by the state to forcefully disarm New York residents include the decades-old pistol permit regime and the newly minted Red Flag Law. 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. 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. Therefore, 2AWNY.COM is today announcing a statewide Gun Confiscation Review Board. This Review Board will be composed of concerned citizens organized to operate locally. They will build strong relationships with law enforcement and actively monitor for gun confiscation events. They will freely assemble at the location of active gun confiscation occurrences and document the associated conduct and outcomes. Such details will be reported to the public and media, who can freely determine for themselves if the physical and civil rights costs of New York gun confiscation are worth the benefits advertised by progressives.

4 – Government Enforcer Education: The following simple truth keeps New York progressives awake at night clutching their pearls: Without a compliant government enforcement arm, their authoritarian dream of statewide civilian disarmament cannot be realized. If complete disarmament cannot be realized, then progressives’ overall plan to force their leftist agenda on the whole state and nation will fail. This is because heritage Americans will obviously resort to armed resistance in response. This is precisely as the nation’s founders intended, and as it should be. It’s also why I’m pleased to announce 2AWNY.COM’s ‘Government Enforcer Education’ initiative. This effort will consist of outreach campaigns to law enforcement officers, National Guard soldiers, and active duty military. We will educate them on the legal, procedural, discretionary, and other options available to resist enforcement of New York’s unconstitutional gun control regime. We will also educate district attorneys and judges on their obligations to respect and uphold Second Amendment protections, per their constitutional oaths of office.

5 – Second Amendment School Curriculum: Why does disarmament dementia persist in New York State? It’s because government-controlled schools, loyal to the Cuomo regime, lie to your children about the massive success of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Consider the following striking contrast in lethal outcomes. On December 28th, 2019, a man armed with a machete stormed a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, New York. He slashed wildly, wounding five. His victims were systematically disarmed and left defenseless by Albany’s progressive overlords. Conversely, on December 29th, a man armed with a shotgun opened fire in a Texas church. Six seconds into his attack that murdered two, the assailant was killed by one round fired by an armed civilian. In this attack, numerous lives were saved because Texas legislators understand what New York progressives do not: The Second Amendment Works. New York State students deserve an education curriculum that presents this undeniable truth. 2AWNY.COM is pleased to announce that we’ll be calling on the state Board of Regents in the coming days to develop and distribute such a curriculum to all public schools.

6 – Peaceful State Separation: The New York State Legislature’s continued lurch to the radical, authoritarian left has resulted in a loss of its mandate to govern Upstate residents. New York’s downstate population remains insistent on fully disarming its citizens, ignoring the historical dangers posed by ever-expanding government power, and diving headfirst into a socialist experiment that has reliably produced famine, suffering, and death wherever it’s been tried. Conversely, New York’s Upstate population believes in the individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms, understands the liberty-producing value of limited government, and is interested in seeing the nation remain a constitutional republic. These are diametrically opposed worldviews that cannot be reconciled amid the political and societal realities of 2020 America. The remainder of the country will likely begin to balkanize for similar reasons over the next decade, so it makes sense for New York to begin the process now. Therefore, 2AWNY.COM calls on Governor Cuomo to begin thumping his chest now for another “first in the nation” New York initiative, and work with the legislature to make this state the first to peacefully separate for ideological purposes. The heritage Americans of Upstate New York no longer recognize the authority of downstate progressives.

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.