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Congressman Chris Collins, R-NY 27th District, with offices in Geneseo and Lancaster in Western New York, introduced a bill in Congress that would preserve Second Amendment rights by limiting the states authority to ban certain rifles and shotguns through state and local legislation.

If passed by both houses and signed by the President, the bill could void much of the SAFE Act.

In a statement released on July 31, Congressman Collins announced introduction of the Second Amendment Guarantee Act (SAGA). Congressman Collins, who originally hails from Schenectady, proposed new measures for protecting Second Amendment rights by introducing legislation to limit state authority when it comes to regulating rifles and shotguns, commonly used by sportsmen and sportswomen.

SAGA was crafted to stop states from enacting and enforcing regulations of rifles and shotguns that are more restrictive than what is required by federal law. Upon passage of this bill most of the language included in New York States Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act of 2013 signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo would be void.

According to a press release from Congressman Collins, Governor Cuomos SAFE Act violates federal regulation and the following provisions would be void under the proposed legislation:

Cuomos SAFE Act expanded rifle and shotgun bans to include semi-automatic guns with detachable magazines that possess certain features.

The Cuomo SAFE Act banned the capacity of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. It further limited magazines to seven rounds at any time.

This legislation would protect the Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers that were unjustly taken away by Andrew Cuomo, said Collins. I stand with the law-abiding citizens of this state that have been outraged by the SAFE Act and voice my commitment to roll back these regulations.

In the Collins bill, states or local governments would not be able to regulate, prohibit or require registration and licensing (that are any more restrictive under Federal law) for the sale, manufacturing, importation, transfer, possession or marketing of a rifle or shotgun. Additionally, rifle or shotgun includes any part of the weapon including any detachable magazine or ammunition feeding devise and any type of pistol grip or stock design.

Under this legislation, any current or future laws enacted by a state or political subdivision that exceeds federal law for rifles and shotguns would be void.

When Congressman Collins announced the legislation on July 31, he was accompanied by supporters of Second Amendment rights from the Hamburg Rod & Gun Club, Rochester Brooks Gun Club, representatives from SCOPE, Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard, NYS Senators Rich Funke and Rob Ortt, NYS Assemblyman Peter Lawrence and Erie County Government Officials.

I spoke with Sara Minkel, Communications Director for Congressman Collins, who provided an update; The bill just received two co-sponsors Congressman Tom Reed, R-NYs 23rd District and Congressman David Valadao, R-Hanford, Ca.

She advised the best way to support the SAGA Act, (H.R. 3576), is to contact your local congressman. For our area, Congressman John Faso, R-19 District can be reached at his Washington, DC Office at:

1616 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC 20515

Phone: (202) 225-5614

Fax: (202) 225-1168

While the prospects for passage of SAGA are challenging, those calling for repeal of SAFE through the state legislative mechanism face a much more daunting task.

While the NYS Senate might make some headway, the current make-up of the NYS Assembly will make full repeal highly unlikely. Even if the assembly passed repeal legislation, as long as Governor Cuomo is in office, all he needs do is simply veto the measure with no threat of an override.

Closer to home in Leeds last Saturday, the Columbia Greene Friends of NRA held their annual banquet at Anthonys Banquet Hall.

Local leaders of the state legislature and law enforcement attended to show their support of the Second Amendment and rejection of the NY SAFE Act. Assemblyman Peter Lopez and Stephanie Gardinier, of Senator Kathy Marchiones office, joined Columbia County Sheriff David Bartlett, Greene County Sheriff Greg Seeley, and Senior Colonie Town Justice, Peter Crummey at the event to raise funds for local organizations supporting the shooting sports.

Sheriff Bartlett is seeking re-election in November and Judge Crummey is running for NYS Supreme Court Judge. If you value your Second Amendment rights, you can be assured Sheriff Bartlett and Judge Crummey stand with you on this important issue.

The key organizer of the Columbia-Greene Friends of NRA banquet, Barbara Brandon, declared the event an unequivocal success. About 200 people attended including Columbia County Clerk Holly Tanner, Judge Ron Banks, ECO Lt. Liza Bobseine and local sportsmens representatives.

According to the NRA, Friends of NRA banquets boil down to one goal fund raising for the future of the shooting sports. Since its inception in 1992, Friends of NRA has held more than 17,000 events, reached more than 3 million attendees and raised more than $600 million for the NRA Foundation, a 501 (3) charitable organization.

The proceeds from this banquet were once again raised for the creation or enhancement of local shooting sports programs. Organizations that have received grants in the past include Boy Scout and 4H shooting programs, the Youth Hunter Education Program, Hunters Helping the Hungry, local high schools, sportsmens clubs and law enforcement.

The Kinderhook Sportsmens Club is hosting a Chicken BBQ on Saturday, Aug. 27.

Cost is $12 for adults and $8 for kids under 12.

NY Bowhunters is holding an introductory class at Field & Stream in Latham on Wednesday, Aug. 30, from 6-8 p.m. entitled, Archery 101. To register, call 518-785-3270 and ask to speak to an Archery Associate.

Happy Hunting, and Fishing, and be safe until next time.

You can also share any comments with our sports department at sports@registerstar.com

*If you have a fishing or hunting report, photo, or event you would like to be considered for publication, you can send it to: huntfishreport@gmail.com

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Proposed federal legislation would nullify NY SAFE Act - Hudson Valley 360

Photo Members of a militia at Charlottesville, Va. Credit Joshua Roberts/Reuters

When militia members and white supremacists descended on Charlottesville, Va., last Saturday with Nazi flags and racist placards, many of them also carried firearms openly, including semiautomatic weapons. They came to intimidate and terrify protesters and the police. If you read reports of the physical attacks they abetted, apparently their plan worked.

They might try to rationalize their conduct as protected by the First and Second Amendments, but lets not be fooled. Those who came to Charlottesville openly carrying firearms were neither conveying a nonviolent political message, nor engaged in self-defense nor protecting hearth and home.

Plain and simple, public terror is not protected under the Constitution. That has been the case throughout history. And now is the time to look to that history and prohibit open carry, before the next Charlottesville.

Historically, lawmakers have deemed open carry a threat to public safety. Under English common law, a group of armed protesters constituted a riot, and some American colonies prohibited public carry specifically because it caused public terror. During Reconstruction, the military governments overseeing much of the South responded to racially motivated terror (including the murder of dozens of freedmen and Republicans at the 1866 Louisiana Constitutional Convention) by prohibiting public carry either generally or at political gatherings and polling places. Later, in 1886, a Supreme Court decision, Presser v. Illinois, upheld a law forbidding groups of men to parade with arms in cities and towns unless authorized. For states, such a law was necessary to the public peace, safety and good order.

In other words, our political forebears would not have tolerated open carry as racially motivated terrorists practiced it in Charlottesville. They did not view open carry as protected speech. According to the framers, the First Amendment protected the right to peaceably not violently or threateningly assemble. The Second Amendment did not protect private paramilitary organizations or an individual menacingly carrying a loaded weapon. Open carry was antithetical to the public peace. Lawmakers were not about to let people take the law into their own hands, so they proactively and explicitly prohibited it.

Read the rest here:
Ban the Open Carry of Firearms - New York Times

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins response to the Union-Sun & Journal's recent editorial (Aug. 11):

My bill would restore New Yorkers Second Amendment rights and doesnt supersede states rights.

I do believe in States' rights, the need for local control and the 10th Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing state rights. However, I want your readers to know my steadfast belief that states like New York should not have the ability to take away the Constitutional rights of their citizens. Under no circumstances should these basic rights be denied, and federal action is warranted in a situation where a state is infringing on the rights of any American.

The Constitution is the law of the land, and the Founding Fathers produced a document with a clear vision regarding Second Amendment rights. The Second Amendment can only be interpreted one way, and that is it guarantees that Americans have the right to own a firearm.

My proposed legislation, the Second Amendment Guarantee Act (SAGA), has sparked a needed conversation about the Second Amendment rights granted to Americans in the Constitution. In 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomos Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act infringed upon the rights of law-abiding New Yorkers by instituting strict rifle and shotgun regulations. As you pointed out, these regulations were put in place purely for political purposes.

SAGA focuses specifically on protecting Second Amendment rights, and in no way is taking away the rights of states. When a state crosses the line and starts to implement regulations that are in stark contrast to the basic rights given to Americans, action needs to be taken. That is exactly why I am proposing my law to rein in the unconstitutional policies that Cuomo forced into law.

Cuomo overstepped with the SAFE Act, and my proposal to repeal much of the law has had a great deal of support. SAGA isnt hypocritical; it is a sincere effort to bring back the freedoms given to New Yorkers by our Constitution when it comes to owning a firearm. Law abiding citizens should not be punished because of onerous and unconstitutional state regulations.

It is my duty as an elected representative to make sure my constituents are protected, and that includes protecting the basic rights granted to them in the Constitution. The SAFE Act only curbed the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Yorkers, instead of providing them with a safer place to live as promised by the governor.

The SAFE Act has done nothing to help our communities and has only taken away our freedoms. It is time we end this disastrous law for all New Yorkers and revert back to what the Founding Fathers intended for our nation.

See related: Collins proposes new measures for protecting Second Amendment rights

Read more from the original source:
Second Amendment - Wyoming County Free Press

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said, If a protest group insists, No, we want to be able to carry loaded firearms, well, we dont have to represent them. They can find someone else.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the policy shift that Romero highlighted is focused on hate groups, which are listed as white nationalists and neo-Nazis. Romero did not say whether ACLU protection would also be denied to Black Panther protesters who are armed or to communist party members who could rally for the left while armed.

The policy shift comes after the ACLUs Virginia branch helped organizers of the Unite the Rightprotest secure a permit to assemble in a Charlottesville park [on August 12]. When the city of Charlottesville pushed to move the protest away from the park, the ACLU stood by protest organizer Jason Kessler and won the day.

On August 15,Breitbart News pointed to Southern Policy Law Center (SPLC) reports that Kessler is rumored to be aformer Occupy Wall Street activist and supporter of former President Barack Obama.

According to SPLC:

Rumors abound on white nationalist forums that Kesslers ideological pedigree before 2016 was less than pure and seem to point to involvement in the Occupy movement and past support for President Obama.

At one recent speech in favor of Charlottesvilles status as a sanctuary city, Kessler live-streamed himself as an attendee questioned him and apologized for an undisclosed spat during Kesslers apparent involvement with Occupy. Kessler appeared visibly perturbed by the womans presence and reminders of their past association.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host ofBullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter:@AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

P.S. DO YOU WANT MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX?SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BREITBART NEWSLETTER.

Read the original here:
ACLU Refuses to Defend Protesters Exercising First and Second Amendments Together - Breitbart News

These guys aren't law enforcement. Is this about to become normal?

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

With more white nationalist rallies planned in the coming weeks, including one this upcoming Saturday in Boston, cities across the country may soon be looking for ways to try to prevent the sort of violence that took place last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Bostons Mayor Martin Walsh is reportedly looking into legal grounds to stop the next alt-right rally from happening in his city. Those rallygoers are permitted, though, and have a First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.

Peaceablyis the key word there, however. The white supremacists who showed up in Charlottesville were reportedly armed to the teeth. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe claimed his state police were outgunned on Saturday, while one white nationalist leader showed off his firepower in a popular Vice News documentary about the weekends events. Another rallygoer in that videoclad in camouflageseemed to be warning police that he planned to send at least 200 people with guns to gather equipment that was at the site of the rally. Heavily armed paramilitary groups barely distinguishable in appearance from law enforcement officials, meanwhile, made their own show of force in Charlottesville, saying they were there to keep the peace between white nationalist rallygoers and counter-protesters.

As my Slate colleagues Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern reported on Monday, those trying to exercise First Amendment rights clashed with those claiming to exercise Second Amendment rightsincluding Virginias open-carry lawsin Charlottesville, and the guns won. Current constitutional doctrine, they argued, is poorly equipped to handle a situation where one heavily armed group of assemblers is able to silence with their weaponry the free speech rights of a different group of would-be assemblers.

But University of Virginia professor Philip Zelikow argues that the Constitution does allow for restricting armed rallies. Writing in Lawfare, Zelikow notes that there is precedent for preventing groups of heavily armed white supremacists from gathering in intimidating mass assemblies:

The judge granted their request, the order worked, and the group was enjoined from displays of intimidation.

Reading a description of one white supremacist group in Charlottesville by BuzzFeed News reporter Blake Montgomery, its hard not to think of that standard for an illegal paramilitary gathering:

In his article, Zelikow went onto write that, while the Second Amendment guarantees a right to a well-regulated militia, federal courts have held that private militias do not have the right to free reign.

When private self-styled militias get organized, equipped to fight, and travel to my town for a confrontation, this is not a Second Amendment story, Zelikow told me over email. They are organized to violate civil rights and intimidate my townspeople, to show their strength not with their speech, but with their firepower.

Zelikow argues that towns and citizens have the right to sue and enjoin such heavily armed organized groups from staging such rallies. He also suggests that rallygoers like the ones in Charlottesvilleas well as some of the counter-protestersmight have fit the standard for such an injunction. [T]here were a number of clusters that deployed together with standardized dress (to recognize each other), standardized insignia, similar combat/riot gear, and similar classes of weapons, Zelikow, who worked in multiple prior presidential administrations, said over email. Not incidentally, the Antifa [anti-fascist] group also has some standardized identifiers (red neckerchiefs, for example), deploys together in an obviously coordinated way, and carried assault weapons.

(At least one leftist group was reported to have showed up armed with guns.)

Ultimately, Zelikow compares the appearance of these sorts of heavily armed groups asserting the right to mass public assembly to darker periods in world and U.S. history:

The coming weeks seem likely to continue to test that line between protected assembly and unprotected civil violence. The ability of civil authorities to respond when that line is crossed also seems likely to face some very serious challenges.

See more here:
Is There a Way to Prevent the Next Charlottesville? - Slate Magazine (blog)