Another governor discovers that he doesn't know much about guns and gun parts, but pushes through legislation anyway.
New York Times: New York Governor Favors Easing His Own Newly Passed Gun Law
Wait now, I thought the original law was, in the gov's words, designed to "overpower extremists with intelligence and with reason and with common sense." Uh, huh. How rare, a boasting politician.
Unfortunately, Mr. Intelligence-Reason-Common Sense forgot about a few things. First, all of the weapons used by law enforcement in his state carry more than seven rounds in their magazines [please don't call them "clips"; they aren't clips] and, since there was no law enforcement exemption, every single law enforcement officer in New York was in violation of the new law.
Second, who the heck makes magazines that carry fewer than ten rounds? [Well, I guess those who own handguns that use the 1911 design; so a whopping 5% of manufactured magazines fit the new law. Why does an Episcopal priest know more about guns than a fellow who signs bills into law?]
Third, there are a number of gun and part manufacturers in New York. Imagine if they, like some of those companies in Colorado, simply leave a high-tax, high-regulation state for a friendlier environment, taking hundreds, perhaps thousands of jobs with them? America has a fluid economy, or so I'm told.
Fourth, legislative overreach disquiets the general population, which may be seen in the governor's dropping approval ratings. This may be his strongest motivation, especially since he hasn't kept it a secret that he wishes to run for president. [I hope he modifies his bellowing public speaking style if he does, because he reminds me of some semi-literate footballers in schools in which I've taught when they had to say something at a pep rally.]
Laws will only constrain the law-abiding; by definition, criminals and lunatics exist outside of laws. If intelligence, reason, and common-sense were actually employed by boastful, bellowing pharisees, they would address the real cause of mass violence: psychotropic medication, which is a common factor in every single mass shooting over the last fifteen years.
You may wonder why this is of any concern to me, and I suppose it's because of a number of things. Since I was born and raised in an area of the country where gun ownership, the safe handling of guns, and their use in hunting were considered normal, I'm always a little touchy about the easy stereotypes that are painted on Midwesterners [and Westerners and Southerners] by the media and the New York-D.C. political establishment, along with their West Coast equivalents. The recent article in the Washington Post explaining to its readers that, in some parts of the country, hunting and fishing are normal boyhood experiences reminded me of just how distant the contemporary educated, urban male is from such normal activities.
We are Cuomo's "extremists", apparently; those whom he dismisses as creatures who need to be controlled by those such as himself who are graced with the reason and the intelligence and the common sense. All because I own a rifle and know how to operate it, I am somehow to be the government's chattel.
The other is that it now seems clear that the events in Newtown are merely seen as a convenience to those like Cuomo and Bloomberg [who is underwriting much of the current "guns are icky" frenzy as part of his bizarre control need] that could be exploited to further their intentions. I don't believe they care much about the victims or survivors of that atrocity outside of their usefulness in furthering the power of government officials.
Historically, power is gained through coercion and the manipulation of fear, and that's the intention behind these actions. There is nothing that has been suggested in the manner of gun control that would have prevented the events in our state. The mass killing of children was not caused by a particular type of handle on a rifle [if indeed, a rifle was used; since the report has not yet been released, we don't officially know what really happened] or the number of rounds contained in a magazine [not to brag, but this timid clergyman can change magazines in a rifle so fast that there would be no significant interruption in the rate of fire; it was the government that trained me how to do that, by the way], or how "scary" a rifle looks to a senator from California.
It was caused by people pretending that madness was not in their midst, and who were unfortunate enough to live in a state that, over the last twenty years, has reduced the number of treatment facilities for the mentally ill by 75%. The fact that politicians continue to draw attention away from what could really make a difference is a social concern that, in a healthy world, or in a greater church with true, thoughtful leadership, would be in desperate need of address.
Related: The Daily Beast - Did the Assault-Weapons Ban Kill Gun Control?