Gun-rights groups vow not to comply with SAFE Act

Latest gun rally at Capitol draws a few hundred: Latest gun rally at Capitol draws a few hundred

ALBANY — A few hundred gun-rights supporters rallied at the state Capitol on Tuesday, calling on their fellow firearms owners to flout New York’s controversial new gun laws.

“Do not comply,” Melody Burns, a local talk show host and the rally’s emcee, told the crowd. “I just want to remind you -- do not comply!”

The Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, which was shepherded through the Legislature by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January, includes lower limits on the number of rounds allowed in magazines and a stricter ban on assault weapons, while requiring those who previously owned such guns to register with the state.
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People recite the Pledge of Allegiance during a Second Amendment rally at the Capitol on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. A few hundred people gathered for the rally pressing for repeal of the state's new tough laws that were enacted a month after the Newtown, Ct., school massacre. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) / AP

Compliance with the laws have led to heated debate ever since, with some county sheriffs even suggesting they won’t enforce the new provisions. There are several lawsuits seeking to have the law overturned.

“I just want to tell you all: Thank you, don’t give up, keep using your voice,’” said Michael Carpinelli, the Lewis County sheriff and a vocal critic of the gun laws. “I am not about to enforce this act.”

Criticism of the gun laws led to a meeting in Albany earlier this spring between Cuomo and the state Sheriffs Association, where Chemung County Sheriff Christopher Moss said Cuomo told them to reign in their opinions. The Times Union of Albany reported on the private meeting Tuesday.

Moss, a Republican who was the only sheriff in attendance, said he thought they were meeting with the Democratic governor a month or so ago to discuss potential changes to the gun-control law passed in January. Instead, Cuomo sought to shut down their vocal opposition, Moss said.

“We told the governor that we were elected officials and we had a constituency just like he did, and that we were responsible to them, and we had the right as elected officials to give our opinion on the act,” Moss said.

The sheriffs group, whose members are mainly from upstate, have opposed the law, saying parts of it is unenforceable and unconstitutional. It also filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to have the law tossed.

Cuomo downplayed the meeting when asked about it today by reporters, saying he remembers them simply discussing the law and potential changes to it.

“That’s not my recollection of the meeting at all,” Cuomo said of Moss’s description. He added that, “People have opinions, and people can offer their opinions and that’s part of the process.”