AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Dear Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York Legislature,

We get it. You don’t like guns. You don’t have to keep reminding us by punishing law-abiding gun owners in your state, mmkay?

Sincerely,
Free America

If you’re not sure what this is about, I understand. Allow me to explain.

You see, in addition to Cuomo’s war against the National Rifle Association, it seems that the New York Legislature has decided to pass yet another gun control bill to send to the governor’s desk. He’s likely to weep with joy at the opportunity to create still more regulations for law-abiding gun owners to have to deal with.

Gun owners in New York with children in their homes may have to take steps to keep their weapons in safe-storage units.

The state Legislature on Monday passed a bill that aims to prevent kids from having access to guns in their homes, making it a potential criminal charge if the weapons are not safely stored.

“Despite all our progress, it is still simply too easy for guns to fall into the wrong hands,” Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, Westchester County, the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement.

The bill comes after the Democrat-controlled Legislature in January passed a package of gun-control laws, its first since the controversial SAFE Act in 2013.

What would the law do?

The measure would apply to gun owners with children younger than 16 residing in the home.

They would have to securely lock any “rifle, shotgun or firearm in an appropriate safe storage depository” if it is out of their immediate possession or render it incapable of being fired with a gun-locking device.

Failure to do so comes with a potential charge of a first-degree class A misdemeanor, which can carry a punishment of one year in jail or three years probation, as well as up to a $1,000 fine.

The bill, if signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, would also require individuals to safely store their guns when children are present in their homes, even if the kids do not live there.

In other words, if a friend stops by your house for an impromptu visit, you’re going to have to excuse yourself to go lock up all your guns for the five minutes the kids are in the home. In the process, you’ll be forced to either disclose you have guns–something that’s not anyone else’s business necessarily–or look like an a**.

Not that Cuomo and company care, mind you.

Look, I think people should keep their guns secure so kids don’t do anything stupid. But I also think that not everyone is in a position where that should be required or is even desirable. Sometimes, it makes far more sense to keep a weapon accessible, even if a child is in the home. If you live in a less than desirable neighborhood, you may want your weapon out.

Hell, even if you don’t. After all, if you hear glass breaking, the last thing you need to fool with is trying to unlock a life-saving device. If the goal is to keep kids safe, that gun lock would be a complete and total failure if you’re unable to deploy your firearm when you need to.

Not that anyone who voted for this gives a damn about your kids.