Legislature takes a stand against three gun proposals

PENN YAN--The Yates County Legislature approved a resolution Monday, April 8 opposing three additions or amendments for gun regulation pending before state lawmakers.
The three new state proposed regulations include:
• A Senate bill proposes to add and amend the penal law to have all firearm background checks processed by the New York State Police and the creation of a new background check unit. The bill authorizes the state police to serve as a point of contact for implementation of the federal background checks by establishing a state fee for this service. The fee has yet to be determined.
• An Assembly bill seeks to amend the general municipal law to prohibit firearms as prizes in any game of chance, such as a raffle by a club or a fire department.
• An Assembly bill amends the penal law to authorize children 10 years of age or older to load and fire a rifle, shotgun or pistol at a shooting range while under the supervision of a qualified person. The proposed bill seeks to change the minimum age requirement of a parent, guardian or designated person from 18 years of age to 21 years old.
The county's resolution against the three regulations states:
A senate bill referencing a change in the background check procedures as being unnecessary, duplicative and burdensome. Background checks are all submitted to the federal government from the local licensing agency. This proposed law will simply create another layer of state bureaucracy and cause unnecessary cost to the background check procedures in place, at a cost that the state has not yet determined, and may in fact, end up being passed on to local county government as another unfunded mandate.
An assembly bill to prohibit firearms as a prize in a game of chance. This proposed legislation is overreaching in its justification. Many hunting and fishing clubs, as well as local fire departments in Yates County, raffle off firearms as prizes in games of chance as a means of raising revenue for their operations. In Yates County, these prizes can only be awarded to those 18 or older, and to those who are subject to background checks and clearances for same. An outright prohibition of firearms as raffle prizes, when proper safety precautions and actual background checks are undertaken before the prize is awarded is unfair, financially harmful and unnecessary.
An assembly bill to raise the age of a designated supervisor of minors at a shooting range from 18 years to 21 years. While we applaud this legislation in recognizing that young shooters will acquire the requisite skills and safety habits at an early age while participating in supervised shooting at a range, the decision to raise the age of a qualified supervisor from 18 years to 21 years is arbitrary. An 18-year- old has the responsibility to be licensed to drive a vehicle, to own a rifle, to be issued a hunting license, to fight our wars, and to vote for our representatives; yet, this proposed legislation makes an arbitrary decision that an 18-year-old cannot be trusted to properly supervise a minor at a shooting range when the parent of the minor has authorized him/her to participate.
The resolution urges state senate and assembly members to oppose this legislation.