Free Republic

District Attorney Paul Czajka dropped a state SAFE Act charge Thursday in county district court against Hopewell Junction resident Gregory Dean Jr., who was the first person charged in the county under the controversal law since it was enacted last month. Czajka told Town Justice Jessica Byrne that he would not prosecute the SAFE act violation. “Although I believe that it is not for a district attorney to determine or make blanket policy,” Czajka told Byrne, he said he would “decline to prosecute the unlawful possession of ammunition feed devices.” “There are a lot of factors that go into a...

When Chelsea Clinton wanted to make a low-key visit to the hurricane-stricken Rockaways last fall, she arranged to take a trip with her close friend Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton. -snip- But the reality, it turns out, is just the opposite: Those close to the couple say that Ms. Abedin, a seasoned operative well versed in the politics of redemption, has been a main architect of her husband’s rehabilitative journey, shaping his calculated comeback and drawing on her close ties with one of the country’s most powerful families to lay the groundwork for his return. A...

Have you heard the one about the governor and the missed punch line? Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office said on Thursday that the governor was just kidding when he offered a disparaging assessment of Anthony D. Weiner’s campaign for mayor of New York City — -snip- Asked about Mr. Weiner at an appearance in New Paltz on Thursday afternoon, after the remark in Syracuse had been made public, Mr. Cuomo was diplomatic. “I don’t have an official position on the mayor’s race,” he said, “and I’m going to leave it at that.”

Gov. Cuomo says it would be shameful if Anthony Weiner is elected mayor. Cuomo, during an appearance before the Syracuse Post-Standard's editoral board Wednesday, stayed neutral when asked his thoughts on Weiner entering the race. "He runs? He runs," the paper quotes him as saying in a transcript But asked how he would feel if Weiner (self-pictured at right) were to be elected, Cuomo was blunt. "Shame on us," he replied. Cuomo, a Democrat, has said he has no plans to get involved in the mayor's race. He gave a less definitive answer hours before he spoke to the Syracuse...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo — calling job creation the state's "number-one mission" — on Wednesday unveiled a plan for dozens of tax-free zones on public college campuses across the state. The zones would be available to new businesses as well as to businesses that relocate from outside the state, and to those that create net new jobs. In the zones, they would face no business or corporate tax, no sales tax, no property tax, no franchise fee and no state income tax for the owner of the company or its employees. The breaks would last for 10 years. (...) One of...

The sheriffs thought they were being summoned to the Capitol to discuss ideas for changes to New York's gun control law, the SAFE Act. Instead, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told them to keep quiet. Opposition to the new law has simmered in upstate areas since Cuomo signed the law in January. Many county sheriffs oppose it, particularly its expanded definition of banned assault weapons, and have spoken out around the state. In January, the New York State Sheriffs' Association wrote Cuomo with an analysis, and later suggested tweaks. Cuomo invited its leaders to the Capitol last month, people briefed on the...

The sheriffs thought they were being summoned to the Capitol to discuss ideas for changes to New York's gun control law, the SAFE Act. Instead, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told them to keep quiet. (...) Cuomo invited its leaders to the Capitol last month, people briefed on the meeting said. The group included Sheriffs' Association Executive Director Peter Kehoe and Chemung County Sheriff Christopher Moss. "We didn't get a response (to the analysis) from him, but we could tell after the budget was passed that none of those recommendations were taken into consideration," Moss said. "When we got there, we never...

Fantastic Historic Civic Action May 21 If you deem this worthy – spread the words We are On the March for real. Look at all the stuff we are achieving – there are too many action items to mention here but we know there are many – such a rewarding feeling. We have rallied in more places and with more people on one issue than ever before. We now have bad governance in fear of “We the People”. We are making a DEMAND for a vote and have at least 300,000 signatures to back it up. We have put them...

A new Quinnipiac poll comparing potential Democratic candidates for 2016 comes to a familiar conclusion: Hillary Clinton, if she decides to run, would absolutely dominate the competition. The poll has 65 percent of potential Democratic voters picking Hillary Clinton as their presidential nominee in 2016. That's in line with multiple recent polls — including from Gallup, PPP, and PublicMind — showing Clinton as the overwhelming favorite in a Democratic primary. What's interesting about the Quinnipiac poll is that it conducted a separate survey in which Clinton was removed from the race. Which Democrats come out on top if Clinton decides...

Gov. Cuomo’s nose must grow a little longer every time the state’s latest commercial message hits the airwaves — which is quite a lot recently. “Welcome to the new New York State,” the voiceover intones, “where cutting taxes for families and businesses is our business.” The spot, which is supposed to spark business investment, goes on to declare that Empire State companies have saved more than $2 billion through “reduced taxes and lowered costs.” That middle-class tax rates have been cut “to the lowest rate in 60 years.” That the state is creating “tax-free zones for business startups.” And that...

By Lucy Madison / CBS News/ April 29, 2013, 9:13 AM Report: Cuomo won't run against Clinton in 2016 Despite widespread speculation he's been eying the job, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told associates he won't run for president if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton does, according to the New York Post. Cuomo, New York's first-term Democratic governor and the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, would face a steep challenge in mounting a nomination bid against Clinton, who has a wide and readily accessible base of support, and who also has strong ties within New York political circles....

Here's the link.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and his gun-grabbing allies are making some major moves in their efforts to violate the privacy of residents in New York, reportedly issuing subpoenas demanding psychiatrists turn over patient records to the State in the name of controlling firearms. There have already been reports of New York gun owners having their firearms confiscated in the State due to a provision buried in the State’s recently implemented draconian gun legislation, which permits denying 2nd Amendment rights to those who have been prescribed psychotropic drugs. A mental health provision in New York’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) act...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have canceled his morning radio appearance today in response to the ongoing manhunt for a suspect involved in Monday’s deadly bombing attack on the Boston Marathon, but another top New York official, Governor Andrew Cuomo, scheduled his own radio interview on The Capitol Pressroom soon after. Mr. Cuomo directly addressed the high-profile situation in the Bay State by employing a phrase he previously used to describe climate change in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: “the new normal.”

Albany Police Officers Union, local 2841, “We respectfully demand that you do the right thing and repeal the law.” FROM: Albany Police Officers Union, local 2841, Council 82, AFSCME, AFI-CIO, P.O BOX 6567, ALBANY, NEW YORK 12206 (518) 438-9422 To: Andrew M. Cuomo / Dean G. Skelos / Neil D. Breslin / John T- McDonald III / Phil Steck / Sheldon Silver / Jeffrey D. Klein / Cecilia Tkaczyk / Patricia Fahy Note; see the formal list of people this letter went to at the bottom. April 15,2013 Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen: The Albany Police Officers Union condemns and opposes...

Three Democratic governors who successfully pushed their state legislatures to toughen gun laws are asking Congress to do the same. “We need the federal government to take the lead and enact reasonable laws to reduce gun violence by, at a minimum, ensuring that more gun purchasers pass a federal background check,” Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Dan Malloy of Connecticut wrote in a letter to Senators on Wednesday. “The American people are clear on this issue – more than 90% support background checks prior to gun purchases. They understand that if you can’t pass...

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The union representing New York State Police say they believe the state's stricter gun laws could put law enforcement officers at risk. In an email release on Monday, the New York State Troopers PBA said its 6,000-member group "holds widely shared concerns" about the NY Safe Act. Nonetheless, the union takes exception to some state lawmakers accusing the troopers of failing to enforce the law. "The individual members of this union did not write the terms of the bill nor vote on its passage," the release said. "We urge the citizens of New York state to remember...

Key measures of New York's tough new gun law have kicked in, meaning owners of firearms now reclassified as assault weapons are required to register their guns. There are also new limits on the number of bullets allowed in magazines. The new provisions took effect Monday. New York's affiliate of the National Rifle Association says it expects to ask a federal judge late in the afternoon to immediately halt the magazine limit. The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association says the law violates the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens "to keep commonly possessed firearms." Association president Tom King says...

A demon has been revealed in twenty-first-century Philadelphia, and the three broadcast networks have been enforcing a policy of silence about the discovery. So have most major newspapers. One reason may be that the trial of late-term abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell for multiple counts of murder is about an African-American killing mainly African-American babies -- and so the common sense among liberals, or, as a friend of mine would say, the "coven-sense," is that such a story disparages that community. This is something newspapers are loath to do. In much the same manner that they cannot dwell upon the causes...

Remember all those who denied that firearms confiscation as a result of New York’s new gun laws was too “insane” to even consider? That it was strictly in the realm of paranoid conspiracy theorists and the “it cant happen here crowd”? Those were and remain some of the standard replies to anyone who even thought about the possibility, let alone gave voice to it, despite the fact that Gov Cuomo and numerous other officials made public comments about such a plan, as I discussed in my article “Feinstein & Cuomo Admit Planning Australian Style Government Gun Buy Back” . Elected...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It was the ultimate putdown of state lawmakers caught in the corruption spotlight. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said they’re not qualified to get real jobs. The circus has returned to Albany. The man known in some parts as “El Bloombito” took out his rapier to cut state lawmakers down to size with a jab only a self-made billionaire could fire off, CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported Friday. “The average legislator who has to make policy on things that influence our lives, our kids’ lives, our future, would they ever get a job in the private sector making...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It was the ultimate putdown of state lawmakers caught in the corruption spotlight. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said they’re not qualified to get real jobs. The circus has returned to Albany.

The Abortion Expansion Bill Send a message to Governor Cuomo and your legislators today. Just go HERE.Memorandum of Opposition Re: The Abortion Expansion Bill “In relation to revising existing provisions of law regarding abortions”The above-referenced legislation may come before you as a stand-alone bill (such as S.438, Stewart-Cousins) or may be re-packaged into a multi-point “women’s agenda” as advocated by Governor Andrew Cuomo in his 2013 State of the State message. We strongly urge you to oppose this abortion expansion plan, in whatever form it may take. It is unnecessary, extreme and dangerous. For the reasons outlined below, the New...

Although he is famously averse to leaving New York State, Gov. Cuomo would be well advised to make a day trip 60 miles across the border to a booming city in Pennsylvania. Williamsport, a town of 30,000 people, is renowned as the site of the Little League World Series. More instructive to Cuomo as he dithers over approving fracking for natural gas in New York is how stunningly the industry has improved the area’s fortunes. Once plagued by a shrinking population and economy — like much of upstate New York — Williamsport now boasts the third-fastest-growing metropolitan economy in the...

Hat tip, and many thanks, to MacG:

New York State's review of high-volume hydraulic fracturing has taken more than four years—and it's not over yet. Right now, all eyes are on the state's health commissioner, Nirav Shah, who has said that he will tell Governor Andrew Cuomo within weeks whether the Department of Environmental Conservation's plan for "fracking" would be sufficient to protect human health. Then it's up to the governor to make a final decision on whether to permit the technique, which involves pumping large volumes of water mixed with chemicals into rock far underground in order to release natural gas. (See related quiz: "What You...

NY Gov Andy Cuomo’s once stratospheric approval ratings have hit a slide — the gun-control law Cuomo pushed through the Legislature in January following the Newtown massacre helped drive the Democrat’s job approval ratings from 74 percent last December to 55 percent last month in Quinnipiac polls......he was losing in the New York suburbs and upstate to GOP Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey in a hypothetical presidential run. The GOP believes Cuomo's politically exploitable missteps, include: * Delaying on the natural-gas drilling technique known as fracking, which has divided the state. * Obtaining luxury seats for himself and top...

Budget Process Betrays Citizens Once Again! Republican Senate Leadership Collaborates with Gun Grabbing Democrats and Tyrannical Governor to Fund a $27 Million Statewide Police Database. This registration scheme was mandated by the unconstitutional NY SAFE Act and now it is funded by the 2013 budget bill. This will create a data base to register and track New York’s legal gun owners. Citizens in New York who chose to exercise their legitimate United States Constitutionally guaranteed right to Keep and Bear arms will now be treated no better than degenerate sex offenders! You will have to register your legally purchased firearms....

Here's the link.

All things being equal, New York State’s infamous new gun laws will go down in history as a prime example of the folly of hysterical calls to action; and Governor Andrew Cuomo, who led the chase for the measures, will join them in disgrace. After 20 children were killed in Newtown, Conn., last December, progressives saw a golden opportunity to reverse the liberalizing tide of recent firearms law and leverage the national outrage in favor of long-desired gun-control codes. Freed by his reelection, the president declared, in an increasingly tiresome formulation, “Now is the time to do the right...

Benjamin M. Wassell, an Iraq War hero who, despite a traumatic brain injury from an improvised explosive device that destroyed his vehicle back in 2006, was able to lead other wounded Marines through a minefield to safety, was the first person charged in violation of the New York State Safe Act. (VIDEO AT LINK) Iraq War hero Benjamin Wassell faces seven years in prison for the violation. Wassell pleaded not guilty today. Guns.com reported: A Western New York man now faces seven years in prison for violating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new gun control-law, the NY Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement...

March 20, 2013 New York Governor Favors Easing Newly Passed Gun Law By THOMAS KAPLAN and DANNY HAKIM Excerpt... The gun-control law, approved in January, banned the sale of magazines that hold more than seven rounds of ammunition. But, Mr. Cuomo said Wednesday, seven-round magazines are not widely manufactured. And, although the new gun law provided an exemption for the use of 10-round magazines at firing ranges and competitions, it did not provide a legal way for gun owners to purchase such magazines. As a result, he said, he and legislative leaders were negotiating language that would continue to allow...

Andy is fighting back. As tens of thousands of New Yorkers have declared they will not comply with his massive gun ban, he has decided to play hardball. I’m talking about Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York. At the first of the year, he rammed through a toughest-in-the-nation gun ban that criminalizes tens of thousands of law-abiding New Yorkers. Guns and magazines they’ve owned for years suddenly became illegal, and a massive registration scheme was foisted upon them. Upset and resistance were widespread and immediate. And a couple of weeks ago, a few thousand salt-of-the-earth New Yorkers gathered on...

For more than a year, New York state has maintained a tip line allowing people to report illegal gun owners and collect a $500 reward. CBS-6 news reported the existence of the tip line on Wednesday. It was previously a “well-kept secret” that received little promotion from state officials or fanfare in the media, according to the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association. A February 2012 press release from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office first publicly announced the tip line, saying it was designed to “encourage citizens to report illegal firearm possession.”

And, The Troy Record also has news on the tip line on their Facebook page – It is real. There is actually someone there to take your tips… So that state officials can come take your guns. NY State has established a toll-free tip line – 1-855-GUNSNYS (1-855- 486-7697) to encourage residents to report illegal firearm possession. The tip line also allows for information to be submitted via text – individuals can text GUNTIP and their message to CRIMES (274637). The New York State Police staff the tip line 24 hours a day. Upon receiving a call, troopers will solicit...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A poll shows New York Republican voters for the first time disapprove of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's performance following the Democrat's push for a gun-control bill. The Quinnipiac University poll finds 55% of Republican voters disapprove of Cuomo, with 27% approving of his job performance. In December, 74% of Republicans approved of Cuomo's performance.

Cuomo MagIn its rapidly expanding role of protector of the people's right to arms, Defense Distributed is offering copies of the "Cuomo" its revolutionary 3D printed AR15 30 round magazine. The magazine is designed to accept either hardware store or standard AR15 magazine springs, which need to be bought separately to make the magazine functional. As a bit of political history, these magazines may prove to be a curio that either sparked the start of a revolution in 3D printer manufacturing, saved the Constitution by demonstrating the insanity of attempting to outlaw boxes with springs, or both. The current price...

Commentary=YNN.COM refuses to put on their website a lawsuit against Cuomo and Silver but has the SAFE ACT propaganda up since it was signed. This appears to be a communist propaganda tv station which has Obummer on for 2 full minutes every half hour.

Gun rights activists, and in Massachusetts even gun owners, bear an unfortunate and negative stigma that often leads to the dismissal of their views and experiences of having any value. When one mentions they are pro-gun, believe in the Second Amendment, or own guns in the Northeast, they are often classified negatively as a “gun-nut.” These “gun-nuts” are assumed to be camouflage wearing, right -wing, anti-government racists. On Jan. 19 at least 1,000 of these “gun-nuts,” congregated in front of the State House to stand up for their rights and beliefs. In doing so, they proved that the stereotype as...

One day back in high school, a very interesting English teacher asked our class a moral question: if you could press a button and get a million dollars, but a little old man -- with no family, friends, or ties of any kind -- in the backwoods of China would die, would you push that button? Approximately a third of the class raised their hands in the affirmative. This story always comes to mind when I ponder the abortion question. The old line of the pro-abortion lobby was that they wanted abortion to be "safe, legal, and rare," implying it's...

A Long Island Republican says his vote in favor of New York’s new gun-control law was a “mistake” and is now co-sponsoring a bill to repeal it. Freshman Sen. Phil Boyle, R-Suffolk County, issued a news release on Friday detailing his change of heart, criticizing the way the bill was rushed through the Legislature. The new law—known as the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or SAFE Act—violates the Second Amendment, Boyle claims. From Boyle’s statement: “The so-called SAFE act was a mistake. Its passage lacked transparency and public input and its wording was ill-conceived and of questionable legality. Lawmakers...

New York sought to combat violence by rushing the nation's toughest gun control measure into law after the Connecticut school shootings that killed 26 people, but the state is now carving out an exemption to make sure movie and TV producers can stage running gun battles on Manhattan streets. ... Hollywood is also a major campaign fundraising stop for New York politicians. ... He said movies and TV may use fake guns that wouldn't be subject to the new law but the industry wants "certainty." The revised law would allow them to use real weapons without real ammunition. "There's no...

Thousands of gun owners will crowd the grounds of the New York state Capitol today, most of them participating in the first public demonstration of their lives. They will be protesting the Cuomo gun ban, a dramatic rollback of gun-owner rights foisted on the people of New York by an aspiring governor and a servile legislature. There will be speeches and signs and a seething anger. And an unspoken criminal conspiracy. On the grounds of the state Capitol, in a crowd dominated by middle-class and middle-aged white men, a disproportionately high percentage of whom are military veterans, thousands will be...

The White House official whom Bob Woodward charged had crosssed a line by saying he would "regret" printing his version of a set of Washington negotiations was Gene Sperling, the director of the White House Economic Council, a source familiar with the exchange told BuzzFeed Wednesday. The email from Sperling to Woodward, which Woodward read to Politico Wednesday, has transfixed Washington, with Republicans and some in the press charging that it embodies a White House lording it over a cowed press corps. Woodward, Politico reported, called the top official — identified to BuzzFeed as Sperling — to tell him that...

Just a month after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the strictest gun control law in the country, state officials plan to make some exemptions. The law toughened restrictions on military-style rifles and high-capacity semiautomatic handguns, but those restrictions will be changed so those types of weapons can be used on the sets of television shows and movies being shot in New York.

Gov. Cuomo said yesterday that 169 of 192 residents of Staten Island’s storm devastated Oakwood Beach have taken him up on his offer to buy out their Sandy-ravaged homes. The people who live in the battered neighborhood have been enticed by a deal that will pay them 100 percent of their damaged home’s prestorm market value — plus 5 percent if the homeowners stay on Staten Island, Cuomo said. The feds will pick up 75 percent of the tab. “Let’s build back smarter than before, and let’s do it right,” Cuomo said during a visit Monday to the College of...

<p>A Potentially explosive confrontation over Gov. Cuomo’s tough new gun law was avoided over the weekend as 1199 SEIU, the hospital workers union, abruptly canceled a Thursday rally designed to challenge some 10,000 opponents of the governor’s measure, The Post has learned.</p>

A ‘Second Amendment Rally’ is being held in Albany this Thursday the 28th, and will feature National Rifle Association President David Keene, and various other speakers opposed to new gun legislation passed last month in New York state. The Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act of 2013 currently hails as the single most restrictive assault on Second Amendment rights in the country, and was forced through the legislative process without public review – a tactic that even Governor Cuomo admits was the only way to enact the law. As a counter to the massive Second Amendment support being demonstrated...

The letter below challenges Governor Cuomo to repeat, in his capacity as an attorney and under color of legal advice, his implication that the Second Amendment applies only to sporting uses of firearms. Remington is advised to leave New York, and take its skilled workers and high-wage manufacturing jobs with it. It will be published by the American Thinker, and sent to Remington and the United Mine Workers, upon delivery to Mr. Cuomo via certified mail. Dear Governor Cuomo, ...Your January State of the Union included the following words: "No one hunts with an assault rifle. No one needs 10...