Posted on 12/17/2012 9:58:21 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) After a Westchester County town supervisor called for the annual gun show to be canceled following the Newtown, Conn. school shooting that left 26 teachers and students dead, the county announced it would not be renewing the shows contract.
In a statement Monday, county officials said, First and foremost, Westchester County mourns with the nation for the families who lost loved ones in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The county stands ready to assist the residents of Newtown, Connecticut in any way it can and specifically has made available its Psychological Response Team, a unit within the Department of Community Mental Health that provides recovery support for the victims of traumatic events.
In the days and weeks ahead, the county will review its own policies and procedures to see if anything can be done to prevent these senseless acts of violence in the future.
With respect to the Sportsmen Firearm and Knife Show at the County Center, there is no signed contract for this event in 2013. The shows in past years were popular and run in a thoroughly professional manner. But at this time as the country grieves the loss of life in Newtown, a contract renewal is not appropriate.
Going forward, the county plans to be fully engaged in the complex and comprehensive conversation of how all Americans can continue to live in an open society while preventing all acts of violence, especially those aimed at our children, and ensuring that those suffering from mental illnesses get the help they need when they most need it.
The gun and knife show was set to take place at the Westchester County Center in White Plains Feb. 2-3.
The County Center is a government-owned building.
Its totally inappropriate to have a gun show in a government building. People have a right to purchase guns but theres nothing in the Constitution that says that people should purchase guns in a taxpayer-funded building, Greenburgh town supervisor Paul Feiner told WCBS 880 before the county announced the gun show was canceled.
In a statement, Feiner said: Thank you, County Executive Rob Astorino for cancelling the gun show. And, thanks to the many residents of Greenburgh and Westchester for joining the effort to stop gun shows at government buildings. Its my hope that this success will help to generate the momentum that will result in gun control legislation being approved by our nations leaders. Citizens can make a difference.
Connecticut state police said school gunman Adam Lanza, 20, used a semi-automatic .223 Bushmaster rifle to kill 20 first graders and six teachers and administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, before using one of two semi-automatic handguns he was carrying to kill himself as SWAT teams closed in on him.
The annual gun and knife show was to be hosted by North East Gun Shows. According to the companys website, shows were also planned in Stamford, Conn. and Waterbury, Conn. in early January.
By allowing guns to be purchased at the county center, theyre sending a message that the county is encouraging people to purchase guns, said Feiner earlier Monday. Government should not be assuming the role of encouraging gun sales and encouraging more guns. We should be discouraging people from buying guns.
According to the WCCs website, the gun and knife show will have 350 tables with vendors selling military-style weapons, uniforms, ammunition and handguns, among other weaponry.
Police said Lanza was dressed in black tactical assault-style clothing and may have been wearing a bulletproof vest.
The Westchester gun show was canceled following the Columbine High School shooting massacre in 1999.
Besides being anti-gun, this is just more “we can’t be insensitive” crap which has gone overboard in our country.
Bunch of liberal phonies trolling for votes. I’ll bet their county Gov’t sessions have a visible police presence. I’ll bet some of these hypocrites have guns at home. You would be surprised how many libs and Democrats like their rifles and guns as much as our side does. I would say its about equal
When you see headlines “Gun sales going through the roof!!!” Half of those sales are to libs
It is not specifically the “Gun & Knife” show that is being targeted, it is a new push to anything and anyone related to guns the next demon.
Gun owners will now be treated like smokers or child molesters. Anyone associated with guns will now be considered EVIL.
And what, exactly, does a gun and knife show have to do with the CT killings?
Nothing, it’s political theater and looks good at the present moment. Wait until their “constituents” get back to them and inform them about the imminent loss of their positions.
Gordon Liddy said it best on closing the gun show loophole. He said Im a convicted felon. If I want a gun Im not going to a gun show or store to get one. Ill go to Rocco who I met in the joint and buy one out of his car trunk.
I had to chuckle over this one. I heard the same thing back in the early 70’s when I went to a tech school in NYC. If a criminal wants a gun he can get one faster than a law-abiding citizen. It might cost more but there is no paperwork trail either.
So what will it take for the MSM and these “Politicians” to admit that criminals are criminals because they don’t give a damn about the laws these yahoos lobby for and pass.
Only if we allow ourselves to be.
Smokers could have turned the tide on this demonization if they had stuck together and forced the fact that they too have rights.
The same goes for gun owners. If we let the left demonize us without fighting back, we deserve to lose our rights. We have to get right in their faces and argue our points just as vehemently and, if necessary, violently as they do.
Our forefathers fought and died for our rights; are we going to give them up just because someone talks bad about us or hurts our feelings?
I see this as a states right. New York does not want these shows anymore just as South Carolina just put rules on Obamacare making it hard to implement. No difference really except we accept one but not the other.
LLS
bump for future use....
Westchester NY County Executive Rob Astorino a “Catholic” “Republican” cancelled the gun show? I think he is up for re-election next year. I’m making a list of politicians that think our constitution is toilet paper and I will never ever vote for them regardless of whom they are running against.
I have no problem with the county doing as it wishes. If they are willing to absorb the financial loss, it's no skin off my nose.
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