As gun-rights and gun-control groups continue to argue over the effects of the New York SAFE Act, one consequence is clear: Membership in the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association has soared since the law was enacted a year ago.

Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, said the NRA headquarters in Washington recently informed him his state affiliate has now surpassed Texas and California to become the largest state chapter in the nation.

The NRA affiliate saw its membership rise from 22,000 statewide to 41,000 since the SAFE Act was approved in January 2013, King said.

While he said his group has had regular membership growth over the years, “It has grown exponentially faster than it ever has before, and it can only be attributed to the SAFE Act,’’ he said

Let’s be honest: Andrew Cuomo doesn’t pretend to give a damn about the rights of New Yorkers, and he doesn’t care that the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association has roughly doubled in size in a year.

He’ll continue not caring as long as his blatantly unconstitutional NY Safe Act is supported by an increasingly dysfunctional court system that seems to agree with the government that we have a Bill of Needs, not a Bill of Rights. Cuomo and his allies will continue not caring as long as they don’t suffer personally for their assaults on liberty. They will continue attempting to pass laws constricting the rights of the people, until they are driven from office.

The NYSRPA is growing, but that growth is meaningless if it cannot be transformed into overt political power. In the end, Cuomo has no respect for gun owners. He and his fellow authoritarians must be defeated.