A Legislative Column by Assemblyman Dave Townsend (R,WF-Sylvan Beach)

Recently, the New York State Assembly voted on legislation designed to limit the individual freedoms of our state’s gun owners, unwittingly enhancing the power of violent crooks and outlawing safe firearms and ammunition based on dubious scientific and criminological evidence. Two major bills dealing with firearms registration and “microstamping” technology were approved by the Democrat-controlled Assembly in mid-May. In their appreciation for New Yorkers’ Second Amendment freedoms, these revisions to our gun laws were as flimsy as the paper on which they were drafted.

Though intended to reduce violence related to firearms, the legislation Democrats supported will in fact place arbitrary restrictions on law-abiding citizens and drastically reduce or, in some cases, eliminate, the sale of certain guns and ammunition in the Empire State. I appreciate members of the Assembly attempting to take on an emotional issue with well-meaning legislation. Still, the fact remains: The way to reduce gun-related violence is to make a distinction between tolerable and intolerable acts, between lawbreaker and law-abiding citizen. The bills approved by the New York State Assembly blurs this distinction, treating criminal and sportsmen with the same degree of suspicion. A family or individual has a right to self-defense. We unintentionally empower violent criminals when we take firearms out of the hands of responsible adults.

For example, under a so called “microstamping” mandate from Albany, many New York State firearms, specifically semiautomatic pistols, would require an alphanumeric or geometric engraving at the tip of the firing pin and the breech face which would imprint the cartridge cases upon firing. The problem is that the microstamp created by such an action would lead investigators to the initial, not primary, owner of the gun. In addition, microstamping technology has never undergone a suitable demonstration project in order to determine its long-term effectiveness. It is impossible to know, for example, if microstamping cartridges over the life of a firearm will actually improve recovery and investigation methods for law enforcement. In its study of the legislation, the Shooters Committee on Political Education said that while “microstamping would appear to offer a powerful forensic tool, substantial further development is necessary to establish both the technical viability and economic sustainability of the proposed system.” I agree.

Another measure, if enacted by the Senate and signed into law by Governor Paterson, would add an extra layer of intrusion into law-abiding gun owners’ daily lives. I opposed this legislation because it would create a county-by-county registration database on all firearm owners in the Empire State. But there is already a legal, comprehensive database in place. The State Police currently maintain a record of all handgun transactions and pistol-license issuances as well as sales between gun dealers and private residents. There is little evidence, therefore, to suppose that law enforcement would be aided by empowering bureaucrats instead of police officers. Under the Assembly’s bill, government officials would have the power to inspect and manage the system at a whim, and the governor and his New York City cronies could use it for political purposes, including restricting gun sales Upstate.

In my time as a public servant, I have fought again and again for policies that cut crime rates and put dangerous criminals behind bars. I also received an A-minus from the National Rifle Association in its 2008 candidate grades. But these gun-law revisions would do almost nothing to keep our communities safe. I voted for our 2^nd Amendment rights in 2010, as I have every year before it, and against this ill-conceived legislative agenda.