# The Last Thing New York Needs Is More Guns



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

The Last Thing New York Needs Is More Guns 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 81752.html

By Robert M. Morgenthau 
You can be forgiven if you thought that Republicans are for states' rights. The Republican Party's 2008 platform insists that Congress should respect the limits imposed by the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution, which declares that authority not granted to the federal government is reserved to the states. But for some Republicans, federal preemption of state authority seems just fine if it promotes the possession of guns.

That is the message of a bill sponsored by the chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, John Thune of South Dakota. The bill, sprung on us as a proposed amendment to a pending defense appropriations bill, would overrule the laws in states like New York.

In New York, the state imposes careful restrictions on who may carry concealed firearms. With the Thune amendment, New York and other states would be obliged to recognize licenses from jurisdictions which choose to issue them practically for the asking.

For example, in Ohio and Missouri, virtually any resident without a criminal record or prior hospitalizations for mental illness can carry a gun. Under the Thune amendment, that Midwesterner could legally carry the gun straight into New York, despite New York's more stringent rules.

It gets worse. States like Florida and Texas are willing to issue carry permits to nonresidents under policies just as lax as those of Ohio and Missouri. The Thune amendment would provide a legal backdoor to a New Yorker who does not qualify for a carry permit under New York's state law. The undeserving local applicant could obtain a permit down South, and then be entitled by federal law to carry his concealed gun around New York.

This affront to states' rights could not be more flagrant, particularly as it would come in a regulatory area that has always been the province of state and local governments. What happened to the Tenth Amendment?

Speaking from a policy perspective, the last thing New York needs is a federal rule that lets more guns into the state. About 85% of the gun crimes in New York City are committed with weapons smuggled in from those other states that make gun ownership easy. Federal action is needed to shut down the pipeline that brings these guns to our streets.

The Second Amendment may allow gun possession for home defense under some circumstances. But it provides no excuse for the kind of lax federal regulation of which the Thune amendment is just an instance. Nor is there any logical basis for another instance of lax federal law, the Brady law of 1993, which allows the sale of weapons at gun shows without even a minimal background check on the purchaser.

Moreover, the National Rifle Association's paranoia, coupled with congressional cowardice, has resulted in absurd limits on the ability of law enforcement to examine the very inventory records that the law requires gun dealers to keep. That cripples the ability of the authorities to investigate violent gun crimes and illegal weapons dealing.

We need fewer guns on our streets, not more. Mr. Thune's legislative ploy should be roundly rejected by Congress.

Mr. Morgenthau has been the district attorney for New York county since 1975.


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## HeavyD (Jun 28, 2009)

This article by Mr. Morgenthau (a district attorney who has probably let felony armed robberies plead down to time served) is disingenuous at best. I love it when the left defends states rights when it comes to guns, but if you said the states could put their own limits and qualifications on the freedom of speech, they'd be crying and screaming at the top of their lungs. Can you imagine if someone proposed a qualifying test (IQ or otherwise) to have a license to speak...(state specific)??? Would they still use the 10th Amendment as their reason to support such proposals claiming states rights? Hey, maybe we're on to something!

The Thune amendment is strongly supported by the NRA for good reason. It makes carry rights recognized by other states, just like a drivers license. You don't have to apply state to state to have driving privileges when you cross state lines (which has much less merit than the rights of the 2nd amendment), why should carry privileges not cross state lines as well? After all, people who have passed and applied for carry rights are the most trained and qualified...and should have the right to defend their person while on American soil.

People like Mr. Morgenthau always paint false arguments. Someone from Utah or MN with a right to carry, probably isn't the one causing problems with guns in their fair state. As far as "illegal" guns being shipped in from other states to NY...Many of these guns are probably being shipped in by "illegal aliens", and I believe NY is a sanctuary city. I don't see Mr. Morgenthau tackling that issue.

And my favorite quote of all from the article is "The Second Amendment may allow gun possession for home defense under some circumstances." Sir, The Second Amendment does much more than that and nowhere does it say "may"! :******:


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

I guarantee I would never go there without my gun. :sniper:


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Good for Thune. Right to carry is a right, and rights don't require a license. New York is out of line not Thune. Our rights under the constitution are not subject to approval by the states.


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

> We need fewer guns on our streets, not more.


Perhaps Mr. Morgenthau should contact Dr. John Lott about the legitimacy of this statement. Although, I'm sure that anything Dr. Lott had to say would be dismissed as propaganda by this liberal.

huntin1


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Failed to pass this morning by 2 votes


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## HUNTNFISHND (Mar 16, 2004)

Bob Kellam said:


> Failed to pass this morning by 2 votes


How did Dorgan and Conrad vote?


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## HeavyD (Jun 28, 2009)

Conrad and Dorgan both Yea's. Here's a link to the full roll call.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/L...ote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00237


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Alphabetical by Senator Name
Akaka (D-HI), Nay 
Alexander (R-TN), Yea 
Barrasso (R-WY), Yea 
Baucus (D-MT), Yea 
Bayh (D-IN), Yea 
Begich (D-AK), Yea 
Bennet (D-CO), Yea 
Bennett (R-UT), Yea 
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay 
Bond (R-MO), Yea 
Boxer (D-CA), Nay 
Brown (D-OH), Nay 
Brownback (R-KS), Yea 
Bunning (R-KY), Yea 
Burr (R-NC), Yea 
Burris (D-IL), Nay 
Byrd (D-WV), Not Voting 
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay 
Cardin (D-MD), Nay 
Carper (D-DE), Nay 
Casey (D-PA), Yea 
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea 
Coburn (R-OK), Yea 
Cochran (R-MS), Yea 
Collins (R-ME), Yea 
Conrad (D-ND), Yea 
Corker (R-TN), Yea 
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea 
Crapo (R-ID), Yea 
DeMint (R-SC), Yea 
Dodd (D-CT), Nay 
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea 
Durbin (D-IL), Nay 
Ensign (R-NV), Yea 
Enzi (R-WY), Yea 
Feingold (D-WI), Yea 
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay 
Franken (D-MN), Nay 
Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay 
Graham (R-SC), Yea 
Grassley (R-IA), Yea 
Gregg (R-NH), Yea 
Hagan (D-NC), Yea 
Harkin (D-IA), Nay 
Hatch (R-UT), Yea 
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea 
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea 
Inouye (D-HI), Nay 
Isakson (R-GA), Yea 
Johanns (R-NE), Yea 
Johnson (D-SD), Yea 
Kaufman (D-DE), Nay 
Kennedy (D-MA), Not Voting 
Kerry (D-MA), Nay 
Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay 
Kohl (D-WI), Nay 
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea 
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea 
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay 
Leahy (D-VT), Nay 
Levin (D-MI), Nay 
Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay 
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea 
Lugar (R-IN), Nay 
Martinez (R-FL), Yea 
McCain (R-AZ), Yea 
McCaskill (D-MO), Nay 
McConnell (R-KY), Yea 
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay 
Merkley (D-OR), Nay 
Mikulski (D-MD), Not Voting 
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea 
Murray (D-WA), Nay 
Nelson (D-FL), Nay 
Nelson (D-NE), Yea 
Pryor (D-AR), Yea 
Reed (D-RI), Nay 
Reid (D-NV), Yea 
Risch (R-ID), Yea 
Roberts (R-KS), Yea 
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay 
Sanders (I-VT), Nay 
Schumer (D-NY), Nay 
Sessions (R-AL), Yea 
Shaheen (D-NH), Nay 
Shelby (R-AL), Yea 
Snowe (R-ME), Yea 
Specter (D-PA), Nay 
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay 
Tester (D-MT), Yea 
Thune (R-SD), Yea 
Udall (D-CO), Yea 
Udall (D-NM), Yea 
Vitter (R-LA), Yea 
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay 
Warner (D-VA), Yea 
Webb (D-VA), Yea 
Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay 
Wicker (R-MS), Yea 
Wyden (D-OR), Nay


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## NJNH63 (Jul 25, 2009)

Interesting....I didn't come across a single comment supporting Morgenthau in The WSJ.......but then again, these liberals are entirely unable to cogently support any of the nonsense they spew. This clown is speaking from an emotional point of view rather than a logical, fact-based platform......almost always the case with these libs.

It always amazed me that my NH CC permit doesn't carry reciprocity in MT where I hunt every year. NY, NJ and MA don't surprise me......the liberal wackos are eveywhere in those states.

Too bad it didn't pass.....hope it gets another go 'round.


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