The state’s largest gun owners’ group will seek a preliminary injunction in federal court today to block several sections of Gov. Cuomo’s tough new anti-gun law, including a bizarre provision that even the governor can’t justify, The Post has learned.
The unusual section of the new SAFE Act takes effect today, and while it allows legal gun owners to put 10 bullets in the magazines of their semiautomatic rifles and pistols during competitions at shooting ranges, it makes it illegal for them to put more than seven bullets in the same gun magazines in their own homes — even if their lives are in danger.
“The seven-round home-protection ban directly and immediately impacts the ability of law-abiding gun owners in New York to defend themselves and their loved ones against criminal attack,’’ said White Plains lawyer Brian Stapleton, who represents the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA).
“The distinction the state has drawn in allowing individuals to possess and load 10-round magazines for sporting purposes at a gun range but to prohibit by law possession of the same magazine at home for purposes of self-defense makes no sense whatsoever and violates the equal-protection requirements of the law and defeats the core purpose of the Second Amendment,’’ Stapleton continued.
The NYSRPA’s injunction request will be filed with US District Court Judge William Skretny in Buffalo, in whose court the association filed a general lawsuit last month challenging the constitutionality of most of the SAFE Act’s provisions, including a ban on the sale of military-style assault rifles, a requirement that existing ones be registered, and restrictions on ammunition sales.
Cuomo and his aides have been unable to explain the rationale behind allowing legitimate gun owners to load 10 rounds for target shooting but only seven rounds for self-defense at home, except to say “police experts’’ believe seven rounds should be the maximum allowed for personal protection.
The NYSRPA had originally planned to ask the federal court to issue an immediate temporary restraining order blocking the new regulations, but shifted gears and sought a preliminary injunction instead because the legal threshold for winning one is considered easier to attain.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office will defend the new law, and the federal court isn’t expected to rule on the request for an injunction for at least several weeks.
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Former Gov. David Paterson, who served in the Legislature from 1986 until becoming lieutenant governor in 2007, is blaming the seemingly endless parade of actual and allegedly corrupt lawmakers at the Capitol on a sharp decline in the quality of those running for office.
“I think that the caliber of legislators has diminished substantially from the time I used to watch my father [labor lawyer Basil Paterson] as a state senator [1965] and when I became a state senator and now,’’ Paterson told The Post.
“And it’s more than just corruption. It’s that the people today don’t prepare themselves, they don’t know the issues or care about the issues, and they have little respect for differing points of view.
“What they do is read the political gossip. They talk about what they think is going to happen in five years, rather than thinking about how they can make a difference for their constituents.”
Paterson also contended that the “idealism” that once motivated people to get into politics is almost nonexistent in state politics today.
“I think there are still a few individuals in state government and in the Legislature who are idealistic, but they’re afraid to express it.”
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Senate Republicans, who lost their majority in last November’s elections, face the loss of six or more incumbents next year through retirements or voluntary political moves, insiders predict.
William Larkin Jr. of Newburgh, Kemp Hannon of Nassau County, and Hugh Farley of Schenectady are considering retirement.
Suffolk County Sen. Lee Zeldin is eyeing a race against US Rep. Tim Bishop, while Westchester/Putnam County Sen. Gregg Ball may challenge US Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. Also, Suffolk Sen. John Flanagan is considered a candidate for attorney general, while Syracuse-area Sen. John DeFrancisco is said to be considering several options to move on.
And if the Republicans don’t retake the majority next year, Sen. Dean Skelos of Nassau County is expected to be ousted as the GOP leader and may resign from the Senate as a result.