imported post
I live in Westchester, too! I think OC will take a very, very long time.
Might never happen, except possibly for a hunting exemption for people stalking game deep in the woods.
I will probably get flamed for advocating an "incrementalist" approach, but I think to fully restore New York carry rights, they have to be won back a bit at a time.
A good plan would start with removing the ridiculous "character references" required to merely own a handgun. Yup... unlike the 40+ other sane states, if I simply wanted to purchase a handgun at a local store, unbox it and encase it forever in Lucite, I would need four letters of recommendation from non-criminals residing in the same state. Apparently passing an instant background check ain't enough.
With that won, the next step would be to try to turn the permit to own into a permit to carry concealed, with none of the ludicrous "graduated steps" needed.
For example, I have to demonstrate a need to carry during business hours.
Technically, if I don't want to be in violation of the carry rules, I'd need to apply to the authorities to expand to 24/7, but would have to justify that in some way.
Another area would be to knock down the silly New York City firearm fiefdom. Even after leaping through all of the flaming hoops to get and carry a handgun in the rest of New York State, that permit is magically invalidated if I go anywhere in the City. However, a NYC permit is good for the whole state.
This could start with NY state asserting itself a bit... perhaps turning the misdemeanor or felony for "illegally carrying" in the City to a $50 violation with no permit revocation.
Then if things go well, making permits truly statewide.
Another crazy rule is that you can't handle a handgun unless you are a permit holder... apparently, you really aren't even supposed to handle a handgun that you aren't specifically licensed for.
I'm not sure why the GOA and NYSRPA (sp?) aren't pushing for any sort of plan like this, or any mitigation of what are some of the most unnecessarily strict gun rules in this country.
(although nothing I've read about gun laws in the US seems quite as crazy as Massachussett's making the possession of an empty shell casing illegal!)