ALBANY – Over 500 people rallied in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Albany on Tuesday calling for the state to reverse its recently adopted state law imposing strict regulations on gun owners.
Hudson Valley Assemblyman Steven Katz (R-14) had an impassioned plea.
“Governor Cuomo, tear up this law,” Katz told the Second Amendment rally in West Capitol Park. Katz’s call was a clear reference to the late President Reagan’s famous demand in 1987 to then Soviet President Gorbachev concerning the Berlin Wall: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Among other provisions, the law limits the number of rounds allowed in firearms.
Cuomo used the ‘message of necessity’ mechanism to move the bill through the legislature and avoid the usual three-day rule.
Red Hook resident John Baisley drove to Albany to defend the Constitution.
“It’s not about weapons; it’s about the Constitution being stepped on,” Baisley said.
Chris Dampman, of Yulan, was at the protest to send the governor a message.
He is going along the wrong path,” Dampman said. It’s about protection.”
Dampman and 20 others from Sullivan County rode a bus with others from Ulster County.
Christine Williams, from Napanoch, is worried that the government is trying to take away the people’s Second Amendment rights.
“And this is just the first step that might eventually take away other rights we have,” Williams said.
Elected officials, including Ulster County Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo and Deerpark Town Supervisor Karl Brabenec, both Republicans, spoke out against the law.
“I urge the Governor and the President to pick up a history book and read why the founding fathers fought so hard to put the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, to preserve our rights,” Brabenec said.
“This law was so rushed and ill-conceived that it makes criminals out of our police and felons out of law abiding citizens,” Katz said.
