Hit us with your best shot, Andy!By FREDRIC U. DICKER
New York PostAssault-rifle owners statewide are organizing a mass boycott of Gov. Cuomo’s new law mandating they register their weapons, daring officials to “come and take it away,” The Post has learned.
Gun-range owners and gun-rights advocates are encouraging hundreds of thousands of owners to defy the law, saying it’d be the largest act of civil disobedience in state history.
“I’ve heard from hundreds of people that they’re prepared to defy the law, and that number will be magnified by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, when the registration deadline comes,’’ said Brian Olesen, president of the American Shooters Supply, one of the largest gun dealers in the state.
Officials estimate at least 1 million semiautomatic rifles are owned in the state, sources said.
And come April 15, 2014 — when Cuomo is expected to be running for re-election — they all have to be registered with the State Police.
But because the rifles have been legal but unregistered until now, authorities don’t know who has them or where they are located.
State officials will be nervously watching the registration figures to see how many gun owners comply, sources said.
“I believe you will have people stepping forward, saying, ‘Here I am. See? I have what you call an assault rifle. Now come and take it away,’ ’’ said a gun-rights activist and boycott organizer.
That’s exactly what state officials are worried about.
“Many of these assault-rifle owners aren’t going to register; we realize that,’’ said a Cuomo-administration source who added that officials expect “widespread violations’’ of the new law. Owners who refuse to register could face a class-A misdemeanor — punishable by up to a year in prison.
And an owner’s weapon could also be confiscated, which could be worth several thousands of dollars.
National Rifle Association President David Keene told The Post yesterday that he wasn’t surprised by the planned boycott.
“While we don’t get involved in campaigns to resist the law, I will say this: Historic experience here and in Canada shows that when you try to force gun owners into a registration and licensing system, there’s usually mass opposition and mass noncompliance,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult for the governor to get mass compliance with this new law.”
Leaders of some of the state’s 300 gun clubs, gun dealers and Second Amendment organizations are organizing the boycott — and the heaviest interest is in Suffolk County, the Capital District and the Buffalo region, sources said.
The organizers point to a little-known guarantee of gun ownership contained in New York’s own “Civil Rights Law,” which was ratified the same year as the Constitution .
The state statute says the right to keep and bear arms “cannot be infringed” — stronger than the Second Amendment, which says it “shall not be infringed.’’
“They’re saying, ‘F--- the governor! F--- Cuomo! We’re not going to register our guns,’ and I think they’re serious. People are not going to do it. People are going to resist,’’ said State Rifle and Pistol Association President Tom King, a member of the NRA board of directors. “They’re taking one of our guaranteed civil rights, and they’re taking it away.’’
Olesen said he’ll soon launch a nonprofit, to be called Save the Second Amendment Foundation,’ to fight the new law.
[[Assault-rifle owners statewide are organizing a mass boycott of Gov. Cuomo’s new law mandating they register their weapons, daring officials to “come and take it away,” The Post has learned. ]]
Oh man- You don’t know how much that lifted my heart- I really thought NY was becoming a lsot cause like Cali and Chicago- Really, just that one lien alone was enough to give me much hope- I hoenstly think this is the only way the lefct is goign to get the message- and if that isn’t strong enough a message, I think it should be taken to the next level by refusign to pay state taxes until the peopel get fair representation i n their state govenrment- but let’s hoep and pray it doesn’t have to coem to that
[[Gun-range owners and gun-rights advocates are encouraging hundreds of thousands of owners to defy the law, saying it’d be the largest act of civil disobedience in state history.]]
Wow- What a storng message too- the only thing that coudl make it strogner is IF other states woudl rally behind NY gun owners and declare that they will not comply with similar federal laws too- I see soem districts in places liek oregon and other staters are sayign htey won’t- I do hope that this becoemsw a movement that can no longer be ignored by washington and NY- to let htem know that the governors and peres and mayors etc are all officially on notice that they had better begin representign hte peopel, or their jobs will be in jeaopardy
[[Olesen said he’ll soon launch a nonprofit, to be called Save the Second Amendment Foundation,’ to fight the new law.]]
I’ll donate money to help them resist if the monety will go to supporting marches and protests etc- Gun rights are a big big issue- and I hope enough peopel will come to realize just hopw important hte right to bear arms really is, and how serious a breach of hte constitution the gun laws are- We are losign our freedoms, and this last attempt by kkkuomo was the most brazen and blatant violation yet- it was a very serious deal- I hoep more peopel in NY will wake up and see that theiur gov is a lunatic drunk on power who thinks he can do whatever he wants- Even goign so far as to tell folsk what they can and can’t buy at fast food joints- He’s truly a power drunk lunatic in my opinion (even his father showed signs of the same pwoer drunk lunacy- but he wasn’t quite as bad as son)