Politics

NY Gun Control Bill Claims to Target Domestic Abusers

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo recently tried to do the job of the state legislators by proposing legislation that would take away the right of any convicted domestic abuser to own a firearm. New York currently has laws on the books that prohibit felons from owning guns, stepping over those convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors.

On the surface, to a bleeding heart liberal at least, this issue seems black and white. Why should violent people be able to own a weapon?

If only things were this simple…

People with sense understand that domestic violence laws are already tilted freakishly to punish men and coddle women. We can say it outright – the system is rigged. Men get arrested, fired from jobs and lambasted in society from nothing more than an accusation. Innocent until proven guilty is nowhere to be found. Were Cuomo’s law to pass, New York would risk taking the right to bear arms from innocent men.

Would this law even apply to women? “Domestic abuser” is most often equated with men. Are there protections in the law to ensure that convictions are more equitably considered in the courts, or does the law only address the result of the flawed system as it stands today?

Secondly, the precedent this law sets for misdemeanors is a dangerous one. By allowing the state to prohibit the rights of those who fall below felon status, you open the door to take rights away from kids who egg houses. There is a reason that misdemeanors are separated as a class of crime from felonies – felonies are supposed to be more serious. If misdemeanors now carry the same penalties as felonies, what is the reason for the distinction?

Cuomo takes it another step farther. Even before the conviction, those accused of domestic violence must give up their firearms. Under the proposal, judges are mandated to require surrender of firearms if an order of protection is issued. What Cuomo fails to recognize is that orders of protection are sometimes issued preemptively by judges, before guilt or innocence has ever been established.

What is most striking is that Cuomo issued this proposal based upon a case that had nothing to do with domestic violence, in a state that was not even under his jurisdiction. Cuomo stated that he was responding to gun safety advocates who were addressing the recent mass shooting in a Texas church. Although the gunman was found to have a history of domestic violence, no one has made a correlation between domestic violence and a propensity to initiate a mass shooting. As far as we know, this is the only mass shooter with that type of history.

If New York allows this law to pass, we can say goodbye to yet another Second Amendment protection. Although the true victims of domestic abuse should not be overlooked, neither should the right of all Americans to protect themselves. After all, those victims are losing protection as well.

~ Firearm Daily


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