Protesters save Long Island, N.Y. skeet range

Hundreds of pro-Second Amendment protesters thwarted  legislation that would close down a Suffolk County. N.Y., gun range.

“Suffolk County has a real victory to share. The legislature tried to close the Suffolk Trap and Skeet range in Calverton again, but the legislation failed,” said Judy Pepenella, a Patchogue resident and co-organizer of the Conservative Society for Action.

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The largely suburban area of Suffolk County is located at the central and eastern portion of Long Island in New York State.

Local community leaders such as Pepenella use social media and the internet to alert gun rights activists of any proposed legislation  that would infringe upon their Second Amendment rights.

“We sent out a Minute Man alert that was picked up by the Oath Keepers, local gun owners and fellow liberty friends to notify them of the hearing,” she said.

By a 4 to 2 vote-margin the ill-conceived proposal was defeated, she said.

The county is divided into 18 legislative districts.  Currently there are 10 Democrats, six Republicans, one Independence Party and one Working Families Party member.

The public hearing on May 1 generated approximately 400 hundred gun rights activists to participate, said Nancy Gamby, a policy member at CSA for over four years.

Gamby, who was one of seventy people to speak against the measure, told the legislature that the Second Amendment expects us to be skilled at using a gun. “How do we become proficient with our firearms if we have nowhere to practice?” she asked.

“Eight out of the ten people that testified in support of the resolution complained of noise at the gun range,” she said.

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However, the bill barely discusses the issue of noise, she said.  “This is less about the appropriateness of noise levels, and more about less ranges for gun owners to shoot at.”

Lead sponsor, Legislator Kate M. Browning of Shirley has a reputation for restricting our rights, Gamby said.  “She closed down the ranges in Huntington, and now she tried to close one of only two ranges left in the county.”

“Browning is in-line with the Working Family Party’s stance that supports gun control laws.  They are consistent about restrictions,” she said.

The resolution called on county officials to terminate its license with Hunter Sports, Inc. because the shooting range could not be operated lawfully or economically and its continued operation is not in the public’s best interest.

Calls to Browning’s office for comment were not returned.

“The county was anxious to reopen the gun range after it was closed for several years in early 2000,” said Peter M. Sullivan a former 18-year state assemblyman from Suffolk County.

Now almost a decade later, the Democrat-controlled legislature will do whatever it takes to appease fellow Democrat and anti-Second Amendment stalwart, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, he said.

“Cuomo is credited with rushing through a stiff gun control bill on Jan. 15 in the dead of night without public input or common sense,” said Sullivan, who graduated from Columbia University with a economics degree.

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In Suffolk County, the opposition mobilized quickly, he said. “An overflow of constituents showed up to complain about the resolution.”

Sullivan who is a retired hospital association executive said he is not the least bit surprised by the failure of the bill to pass.

“Suffolk County is open territory for hunters,” he said.  “We have the same population as NassauCounty with two-and-a-half  to three times as much land.”

The few homeowners that complained about the noise, should have known that the property was located near a gun range before they purchased it, he said.

“If you live near marshland don’t be alarmed if duck hunters show up,” he said.

 

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