A statement from the New York State Sheriffs’ Association:<\/strong><\/p>\n Once again the New York State Legislature has seen fit to pass sweeping new criminal justice laws that affect the rights of millions of New York citizens, and which impose burdensome new duties on local government officials, without any consultation with the people who will be responsible for carrying out the provisions of those new laws. This has become a habit with the Legislature and has resulted in other criminal justice disasters such as New York\u2019s so-called Bail Reform Law.<\/p>\n Some action by the Legislature was necessary to fill the firearms licensing vacuum created when the Supreme Court struck down New York\u2019s unconstitutional restrictions on our citizens\u2019 right to keep and bear arms. \u00a0But it did not need to be thoughtless, reactionary action, just to make a political statement.<\/p>\n The new firearms law language first saw the light of day on a Friday morning and was signed into law Friday afternoon. \u00a0A parliamentary ruse was used to circumvent the requirement in our State Constitution that Legislators \u2014 and the public \u2014 must have three days to study and discuss proposed legislation before it can be taken up for a vote. \u00a0The Legislature\u2019s leadership claimed, and the Governor agreed, that it was a \u201cnecessity\u201d to pass the Bill immediately, without waiting the Constitutionally required three days, even though the law would not take effect for two full months. \u00a0Consequently, law enforcement agencies and the courts, which bear most of the responsibility for implementing the new licensing laws, were deprived of any opportunity to point out to Legislators the burdensome, costly, and unworkable nature of many of the new laws\u2019 provisions. \u00a0And, of course, our citizens, whose rights are once again being circumscribed, probably again in unconstitutional ways, had no opportunity to communicate their concerns to their legislative representatives.<\/p>\n\n We want to be clear: The Sheriffs of New York do strongly support reasonable licensing laws that aim to assure that firearms do not get into the wrong hands. \u00a0We do not support punitive licensing requirements that aim only to restrain and punish law-abiding citizens who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights. \u00a0If we had been consulted before passage of these laws, we could have helped the Legislators discern the difference between those two things, and the result would have been better, more workable licensing provisions that respect the rights of our law-abiding citizens and punish the lawbreakers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"NYSSA\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/05\/13\/NCHE\/583f5ea0-a2e7-4da8-8cb2-736701b0bf89-Updated_Draft_Press_Release_4.png?width=115&height=127&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
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