By the time you receive this, the 2021 legislative session will be underway in Albany. Our team has been working for several weeks to lock down our legislative programs for the year, along with the budget to fund them.
Like every other gun owner in America, I had hoped that President Trump would be in the White House for four more years.
But with the Supreme Court refusing to hear any cases challenging the election, and Congress certifying the results of the election recently, gun owners must get ready for four years of non-stop attacks on our right to keep and bear arms.
Here in New York State, Governor Cuomo and his America-hating allies in Albany are hoping to pass a slew of attacks on our gun rights this year, bills that we stopped in 2020.
And that’s why I am writing you today.
The NYS Firearms Association needs to decide how and where to focus our time and our donor-provided financial resources in 2021 — and we need to decide very quickly.
And unlike federal gun groups that simply harvest their members’ donations and spend them on shopping sprees, private air travel, and massive salaries NYSFA is a grassroots organization that works for you. So, we need to hear from you, right away.
That’s why I have prepared your 2021 New York State Firearms Association Membership Ballot, so we know where you want us to focus this year. Please read thus update and then complete your ballot IMMEDIATELY!
The truth is that the NYS Firearms Association spent a lot of money on hard-hitting social media and digital ads last fall, exposing anti-gun radicals like Senator Kevin Thomas, Senator Jen Metzger, Senator Monica Martinez and more.
It was a very successful program. Jen Metzger was booted out of office by gun owners. Martinez lost her seat, too. Kevin Thomas won his reelection, but by the tiniest of margins.
But it came at a cost.
As things stand today, the NYS Firearms Association has the resources we need to run a solid defensive program against Senator Sanders’ mental health gun control bill, or Cuomo’s goal of banning 80% lowers, or work to advance Stand-Your-Ground law — but we can’t do all of the above.
But before you tell me where you want us to focus in 2021, let me explain what we are facing in Albany this year.
Having obtained a super-majority in the State Senate for the first time in decades, it’s true that the inmates are running the asylum now in Albany. And their primary goal this year is to pass Senator Sanders’ mental health gun control bill.
If passed, this legislation would force gun owners in New York State to submit to and pass a mental health exam every time they want to buy a firearm!
What that means, in reality, is that Governor Cuomo would be able to weaponize every mental health staffer in the state, instructing them to deny your right to buy a firearm for just about any reason they want.
It wouldn’t matter if you’ve not been charged with a crime!
It wouldn’t matter if you have a spotless record!
It wouldn’t matter if you’ve been a gun owner for 40 years!
That’s because this legislation has nothing to do with public safety; rather, this is a tool for radical socialists in Albany who want to break the back of gun owners in this great state once and for all.
You see, tyrannical dictators have been labeling political opponents as ‘mentally defective’ as a way to punish them for a very long time.
Former Russian leaders Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev imprisoned countless people who disagreed with their Communist
agenda, leaving them in prison or labor farms or worse.
China’s Chairman Mao did this too, denying people who questioned him the right to vote, travel, and much more, claiming that they were mentally defective.
Now Senator Sanders (along with Assemblyman Abinanti in the Assembly) want to bring this tyranny here to New York, hoping to deny gun owners their right to buy a firearm using nothing more than these garbage mental health evaluations!
But the other big threat we are facing is legislation that would permanently ban your right to own an 80% lower firearm! These ‘home build’ guns are incredibly popular amongst firearms enthusiasts and people who value their privacy.
These days, 80% lowers can be purchased for almost any popular firearm you can think of from 1911’s, to Ruger 10/22’s, to AR-15’s and more.
Cuomo’s radicals would have you believe that violent criminals are now turning to these firearms to carry out their violent crimes.
But anyone who tells you that today’s criminals are busy making firearms from 80% finished receivers, using precision drilling and CNC machinery, is straight up lying to you.
Criminals are getting gun from the same place they always get guns, by stealing them or buying them from other criminals. Nothing in this legislation would change that.
On the contrary, this legislation is just another tool that Cuomo wants to use to try to attack and imprison as many gun owners as possible. In fact, last year’s bill came with a Class D FELONY conviction and a 7-year sentence in the penitentiary!
This legislation passed the Senate last year, but did not make it through the Assembly. But we know that Cuomo will be trying again this year.
But we can’t just stay on defense all year.
Every other gun rights organization in the state has done that for decades, and it’s gotten us nowhere. That’s why the NYS Firearms Association is determined to remain on offense, pushing for Stand-Your-Ground law in Albany!
Currently here in New York State, if you are confronted by an armed attacker outside of your home, you are legally required to retreat before you can defend yourself or your loved ones.
And if you don’t, you will be the one facing criminal charges, especially if you dare to defend yourself in one of New York’s ‘blue’ counties!
Sounds crazy, right?
It’s not.
Gun owners are routinely prosecuted across the state (not just in NYC) for the ‘crime’ of daring to defend themselves. But that’s not all. Our lack of a Stand-Your-Ground law means that the same criminal (or his estate) who attacked you once, can attack you again, in civil court, for damages if you shoot him.
Imagine what that would be like, rotting away in a state penitentiary somewhere because you dared to defend yourself or your family from a violent criminal — then getting hit with a $2,000,000 civil suit on top of it!
And there has never been a more important time to advance this life saving legislation.
Afterall, Governor Cuomo has released THOUSANDS of violent criminals back onto our streets and into our neighborhoods as part of his response to the Covid-19 situation.
This is in addition to the TENS OF THOUSANDS of criminals who are simply processed and released — even after committing violent crimes — thanks to last year’s bail reform disaster.
We had racked up a dozen cosponsors on Stand-Your-Ground law in the Senate last session, before Covid-19 effectively ended the legislative session.
Will Governor Cuomo sign this bill into law? Of course not.
But just obtaining a vote on this legislation will be a huge win for us, as it puts gun owners on offense while putting every single lawmaker in the state on record — giving us another avenue to expose gun grabbers at election time!
Just ask former Senators Metzger and Martinez, who refused
to support this legislation last year, and were booted out of office just a few weeks ago!
I’m sure you can see why I’m so torn, there just aren’t any easy options.
We absolutely must do everything we can to hold the line against Governor Cuomo’s attacks on our Second Amendment. But we also MUST go on offense with Stand-Your-Ground law!
But I have to be realistic.
And right now, after our expensive election program last November, I just don’t have the funds to run a full-scale defensive and offensive program at the same time.
That’s why I’m counting on you to please fill out your New York State Firearms Association Member Ballot and tell me where to focus the resources that we have.
Of course, when you do so, you’ll notice that I have included another option on your membership ballot — an option that we haven’t talked about yet, because it’s just not possible without a major influx of funds.
Nevertheless, it’s the option that I am secretly hoping you will choose. And that’s OPTION #4: “DON’T GIVE AN INCH! DO ALL YOU CAN TO STOP ANDREW CUOMO’S GUN GRAB AND WORK TO ADVANCE STAND-YOUR-GROUND LAW IN NEW YORK STATE! DO IT ALL!”
Please note that if you select this option, I need you to dig deep and be as generous as possible, to help us put this plan into action.
I simply can’t afford to run a state and federal program at the same time without it. But with everything we are facing this year, we need to push back with everything we have RIGHT NOW!
That’s why my hope is that you will agree to a generous gift of $100 right away.
I know that’s a lot, especially with so many New Yorkers being forced out of work by Governor Cuomo.
But our Second Amendment freedoms and our very way of life are being threatened in a way that we’ve never seen before, and our children and grandchildren are counting on us to preserve
their freedoms, as our forefathers did for us!
So if $100 is just too much, won’t you please agree to $75, $50, $35 or whatever you can afford?
The legislature has already reconvened, and these bills could receive votes at any time, so I need to hear from you as soon as possible.
Please complete your Membership Ballot right away, and please make an emergency donation so that we can push back against these attacks on our freedoms!
For Freedom,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
NYS Firearms Association
P.S. With the 2021 legislative session already underway, I need to make some very difficult decisions about where to focus our resources and our time this session.
After the expensive election program we ran last year, we don’t have the resources we need to hold the line against Governor Cuomo’s offensive on gun owners, while still trying to advance Stand-Your-Ground law.
So I need your immediate advice!
Please weigh in immediately!