Nojay against 'feel-good' gun laws that help nobody

A freshman upstate New York state assemblyman told Human Events instead of making law-abiding gun owners criminals, the state should focus on actual criminals.

“The murderer who killed two volunteer firemen just 20 minutes from my home had previously smashed his own grandmother’s skull in with a hammer, yet here he was living free, without parole supervision,” said. Republican William R. Nojay, who is an attorney and radio show host.

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New York State Assemblyman William J. Nojay
New York State Assemblyman William J. Nojay

“Instead of blaming the rifle he used, the politicians should be asking why New York courts release murderers onto the streets so they can kill again,” he said.

Nojay said if politicians want to get serious about reducing violent crime, it is time to change our sentencing and mental health laws to enforce life without parole and remove violent, mentally ill persons out of our neighborhoods and into institutions where they will not harm innocent citizens, he said.

Nojay said he represents a suburban and rural part of upstate New York, where hunting and shooting are a way of life, where guns and gun ownership remain popular. “Upstate New York will not give up their firearms.”

Over the weekend at a MonroeCounty gun show 10,000 people attended.  This is the most people attending a gun show in Monroe County history, Nojay said.

There are over 20 active gun clubs in my district, he said.  “Passing hopeless, pointless laws will result in the criminalization of large numbers of New York constituents.”

Nojay said there the two bills about to be filed in the state’s legislature are pure posturing.

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Sponsor of gun control bill S-1422 and co-sponsor of S-202, state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., (D.-Bronx) said “I will do whatever I can to protect any life.”

If that means confiscation of firearms so be it, he said.

The bill is intended to stop crime, but there are no assurances, he said.  “People will not stop killing.”

Currently in New York State it is illegal to ship or possess anything classified as an “assault weapon.”

During a radio interview five days before Christmas, Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the current law has more holes than Swiss cheese.

The availability and accessibility of so-called assault-type weapons have the potential to do damage, he said. “Confiscation could be an option.”

State Assemblyman Stephen Katz (R.-Mahopac) said these bills have a completely incorrect definition of an assault weapon.

“Both bills refer to rapid, spray fire of semi-automatic weapons, this is simply not true,” said

It is utterly irresponsible for lawmakers to propose new gun control laws without knowing the mechanics of guns, he said.

“This type of overreaction shows shades of 1930s fascist Germany,” he said.

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The proposed bills create the ability to confiscate firearms from innocent citizens by 2016, he said.

Nojay said, “Both bills are feel-good legislation that will do nothing to prevent crime and prevent tragedy.”

It is an example of addressing a problem in the news, instead of real problem, he said.

“We had more people die from drunk driving in the past three weeks than we have from gun violence, yet no one is blaming the cars.  Let’s start putting the responsibility on the people who commit the crimes, instead of the tool they use for their evil,” he said.

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