I have visited the state of New York on three separate occasions in my life, and I would have to say that I would not come back to the state ever again if you paid me.
The first two occasions were for Fleet Week when I was in the Navy. For those not in the know, the Navy will send a bunch of ships up to New York City, almost like a taxpayer funded public relations junket.
As a kid from the Midwest who had never seen New York City before, I was kind of awed at the prospect of going there. As soon as I stepped off the ship, however, the transient next to the bus stop urinating into a garbage can washed those delusions out of my mind forever.
The second time was a quick one day visit to upstate New York for a family wedding. However, as a lot of people that don’t live in the city will tell you is that New York City is NOT the state of New York.
There’s a whole other state that people often ignore. The laws apply equally to everyone, whether you are in Albany, Troy, or Gotham itself.
Which is why the Empire State is one that gun owners should stay away from. Reason being is that a lot of the lawmakers in that state, even though the capital is in Albany, tend to think of New York City as the only thing that matters.
They make legislation for the whole state based on one city. The thing that a lot of people do not realize is that much more of the state of New York is rural than people realize.
That translates to more gun owners, and as such gun stores. I love hanging around gun stores, it’s how I met my wife actually.
No, seriously. About fifteen years ago I went with my father to pick up some ammo for a day at the range when she happened to be there buying a new holster. We started talking while waiting in line and we’ve been together ever since.
But anyway, liberal control nuts want to treat law abiding gun owners like we are children. Like we are the lady at McDonald’s that sued because the wasn’t told the coffee was hot.
Which is why the potential passage of New York Senate Bill S6649 is going to require gun store owners to place multiple signs that warn potential customers that purchasing a firearm increases the chances of suicide, domestic violence, or accidents to children.
The actual text of the sign has to read the following:
“Access to a weapon or firearm in the home significantly increases the risk of suicide, death during domestic disputes, and/or unintentional deaths to children, household members and others. If you or a loved one is experiencing distress and/or depression, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.”
You have got to be kidding me. It’s incredibly insulting to me as a gun owner to say that I am more likely to hurt someone because I own a gun.
Guns are tools, plain and simple. Guns have about as much to do with someone being violent as a hand saw you’d buy at a hardware store.
I could walk into a grocery store two hours from now and someone could try to beat someone to death with a jug of wine. Does that mean that the grocery store needs to now provide counseling to each person that buys a jug of wine to tell them they have increased the chances of them beating someone to death with a jug of wine?
The violence you see that regrettably involves guns has about as much to do with guns as I do with being an astronaut because I watched Apollo 13 last Tuesday.
The New York State Senate is trying to pass along the blame for a violent act when the seeds for that violent act were planted long before someone got their hand on a gun. We need more people owning guns so they understand what a heavy responsibility it is.
What we don’t need is a whole legislative body treating guns as if they needed a Surgeon General’s warning like on the back of a pack of cigarettes.
New York is reaching way beyond what’s reasonable here.