I thought New York, like the rest of the country, was supposed to be struggling in today's economy:
States and cities are also being hit hard by unemployment’s effect on tax revenue. The 23,300 Wall Street jobs that disappeared in the year through February helped blow a $16 billion hole in New York state’s budget. State officials are trying to close the gap by raising taxes, which will likely restrain spending and slow recovery.
So with people worried about things like...uh...basic survival, and their "leaders" looking for new ways to wring even more out of them, how is it the state has $500,000 laying around for the SNUG program ("that's 'guns' spelled backwards")? And how are they going to blo...uh...allocate it?
The money would be used to provide intervention in hospitals, to hire people to talk to gang members who are shot, right in the emergency room to keep them from retaliating.
You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding.
But wait, there's more:
The money would also fund school programs to dissuade kids from joining gangs.
Is this where we break into the chorus from "Gee, Officer Krupke"? It's like if we close our eyes and wish, the symptoms might go away. And these are ostensibly adults proposing this. I wonder if they'll have a poster contest?
But it gets better:
Outside the building, some 200 school kids lay on the pavement in front, to remember the victims of gun violence.
"We're doing this to honor the victims from Virginia Tech, Binghamton and Columbine," one of the demonstrating students told NEWS10.
What, no candlelight vigil accompanied by acoustic guitars to stir our gentle souls? Or at least a ramp, a motorcycle and a guy dressed like Evel Knievel who will see if he can jump all 200?
Y'know, this just isn't enough. Why, there oughtta be a law. That's why Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D, naturally), "announced a program to curb illegal guns." He did not reveal how he intended to make sure violent career criminals cooperated, however.
But don't worry, because Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Tice has just the "common sense" ticket: Microstamping.
With microstamping, the gun's firing pin would imprint a unique ID number on each shell casing, which could link that weapon to a crime.
Yeah, except there are already something like 200 million guns already in this country that will not be affected, it won't be applied to guns in any of the other states, it won't happen with rifles, shotguns or revolvers, firing pins can be filed down or replaced, stolen guns won't tell you who committed the crime, ejected brass can be picked up by the perp, and brass picked up from firing ranges can be "seeded" at the scene to throw investigators off track and implicate the innocent.
But other than that, it's basic common sense.
Still, Operation SM...uh...SNUG has its unapologetic champions:
“Today marks a turning point in community safety,” said Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith. “Gun violence affects us all- white or black, rich or poor, illegal guns terrorize neighborhoods and tear apart families. For too long, the deadly specter of illegal guns has gone unchecked. In cities across the state, our children are dying at the hands of gun violence, but through our commitment to SNUG, we can put a stop to that deadly trend now and return our streets to their rightful owners, the people of New York.
I can just hear the Stentorian intonations from this bloviating windbag. Did you ever hear such a load in your life? He just stood there and flat-out...well, you know what he just flat-out did. I guess during a $16B shortfall, you need to come up with some justification for liberating $4M (you didn't think they'd stop at $500K, did you?) from the productive sector to throw away on nonsense that gives him the illusion of being a leader.
"Commitment to SNUG" will "put a stop to that deadly trend"? Really? How? I mean aside from coming up with an insipid, meaningless acronym?
This initiative developed is modeled after the highly successful Cease Fire Gun Violence Prevention Model currently used in Chicago.
Chicago? That wouldn't be "gun-free" murder capital Chicago, would it?
I guess New Yorkers are about to find out what Malcolm Smith and Kathleen Tice mean by "highly successful."
And how.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Restaurant with anti-gun policy saved by a gun
- Austin: Contra Costa County, California decriminalizing criminals
- Boston: Training adults and their children to accept the nanny state one crisis at a time
- Charlotte: Are sheriffs using taxpayer money to trample taxpayer gun rights?
- Cleveland: Ohio Sheriff wants help stopping gas station robber
- DC: More guns, less pirates
- Denver: How do you stop the first time?
- Los Angeles: Meeting the Hate, Part II.
- Milwaukee: Milwaukee Police Chief Flynn bullies gun owners
- Minneapolis: Milwaukee Police Chief Flynn is bordering on irresponsible
- Seattle: ‘Benedict Arlen’ and bonehead newspaper editorialists
- St. Louis: One hundred days in: citizen disarmament lobby is getting restless
- Wisconsin: The time for civil obedience is now
There are three bills currently in the New York State Assembly searchable database. Click here to access them.
For microstamping-related columns from Examiner.com, click here.
Comments
An interesting note in your linked "Chicago Murder Capital" article:
"Weis suggested there was a 'degree of timidness' among officers afraid of having lawsuits and citizen complaints filed against them."
This would be bleeding heart liberals led by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, yes?
I am thinking there is chance for a budding enterprise which would help our economy. This business would sell replacement firing pins, each micro-engraved with a forehead shot smiley face.
Each day I read the news and often think, "Nobody could be more stupid than this person in the news." Next day, I find myself thinking my same thought.
I am baffled there seems to be no limit on the depth of stupidity displayed by a lot of people, especially our elected politicians.
More baffling, why do Americans vote stupid people into office? Is this most Americans are more stupid than those stupid people in the news?
Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation
Okpulot Taha,
"..each micro-engraved with a forehead shot smiley face."
Now that's funny
This is nothing but typical liberal thinking. They think that they can just talk to someone and they'll change their ways. Kind of like their thinking about GITMO. We'll just be nice and ask these terrorists and they will tell us everything to prevent an attack on America. They aren't the solution, they're the problem.
Yes Taha, most Americans are more stupid than the people they elect. That is a very thing to have to acknowledge, but were it not so we would not be getting the kind of elected officials we are getting.
Part of the problem is the elimination of any real choice as to what type of drone you get to vote for, but again, if the average American weren't more stupid than the average politically active agent we wouldn't allow that to happen either.
Don't believe me? Talk to people, or just listen. It doesn't take long to become thoroughly disgusted.
Exactly the reason for my new weekly column Dingbat, Dunce, Dummy and Dodo Brain awards. We need a two term max for these idiots or it will never end. Or maybe we could just talk to our congress, and they will do the right thing! Yeah as soon as the gang members will!
Okpulot Taha~ love, love, love the "micro-engraved with a forehead shot smiley face." Too funny!!!! You should start that little enterprise, it could possibly replace some of the Trillions spent since Jan.
Luann Dawkins writes, "We need a two term max for these idiots or it will never end."
This is truly problematic. Although not so much related to David's gun topic, certainly seems Capitol Hill and the White House are populated by blithering idiots, on both sides of the aisle.
David's example of politicians pushing for idiotic laws controlling guns well exemplifies this stunning stupidity amongst our politicians.
Looking back at history and circumstances, what I see is a long series of events which has led to an usually high amount of idiots holding political offices. Americans elected those idiots, nationwide, and this baffles me.
Our nation is falling apart, states are falling apart, families are falling apart, just about everything American is falling apart. Our governments, municipal to state to federal, all are predominately populated by blithering idiots who make decisions, who pass legislation, all of which contributed to this mess we are in today.
How about a one term limit?
Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation
But where are the proposals for Midnight Pin & Plate Shoots?
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