Civil Liberties

NY Sheriffs Say They Won't Enforce Gun Control Laws

The law was rammed through by urban politicians

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People tend to forget that the state of New York is really at least two distinct entities: the city and its surrounding bedroom communities on the one hand, and the rest of the state on the other. Earlier this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo (smirking at right) and the urban contingent rammed through new gun restrictions that were so well-crafted that lawmakers had to quickly revisit the legislation to exempt law-enforcement officers and to revise the law's requirement for (almost non-existent) seven-round magazines to accommodate ten-round magazines into which state residents are only allowed to load seven cartridges. (Watching New York government in action is less like seeing sausage being made and more like observing chimpanzees mold mud pies.) Now the rest of the state is having its say. Upstate sheriffs, under pressure from enraged constituents, say the state's gun controls are unconstitutional, and they won't enforce the damned law.