No venue is off limits when it comes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's gun control obsession. Using his slain aide's funeral as a podium, the liberal New York governor again insisted that politicians are not doing enough to pass anti-gun legislation.
Carey Gabay, former assistant counsel to Cuomo, was tragically killed after accidentally getting caught in a gang shootout earlier this month in Brooklyn, according to reports. In his eulogy, Cuomo remembered his aide by remarking on Gabay's admirable efforts to improve public housing and education. But, unfortunately, the governor's remarks were largely political as he promoted the need for federal gun control policy.
But the governor was focused on gun control, criticizing politicians in comments outside the church for being too afraid of losing votes to pass stricter laws, a risk he said he took by signing a gun control package in 2013. He also said Democrats in Congress needed a stronger answer to Republican obstinancy.
If Republicans were willing to shut down the government, Mr. Cuomo said in his eulogy, "then our people should have the same resolve and threaten to shut down the government if they don't get a real gun control law."
It's obvious Cuomo cared for his aide and feels his loss immensely, but a funeral is not a political stump and a eulogy is not the appropriate outlet for stressing gun control. If there is one at all.
Cuomo has proudly cited his SAFE Act numerous times. Signed shortly after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, the anti-gun bill bans the sale of AR-15s and turns former misdemeanors into felonies. Instead of keeping New Yorkers "safe," the strict legislation has threatened gun owners with unecessary jail time and has driven gun manufacturers out of the state.
Gun-grabbing politicians fail to see firearms as little more than killing machines, but the truth is many Americans buy guns for self-defense. Matt gave us a recent example of the Second Amendment coming in handy in Oregon, where an elderly man used his firearm to desist two female thieves.
The gang violence that took Gabay's life should absolutely be addressed, as should the alarming homicide rates in cities like Chicago and Baltimore. The answers, however, aren't going to be found by forcing fewer liberties on law-abiding gun owners.
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