Can the Man from Westchester SAVE the 2nd Amendment in New York?

No sooner did Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino declare his candidacy for Governor of New York did my inbox start getting bombarded with emails from upstaters questioning whether a politician from a county so close to NYC can be pro gun.

The term RINO was bandied about as well as one email from former Republican Candidate for Governor, Carl Paladino, stated that Astorino was just a puppet of New York Republican State Committee Chair, Ed Cox.

The Astorino candidacy is only being promoted by Cox to perpetuate the Albany establishment and the abuse of government by the arrogant and vain tyrant, Andrew Cuomo, who wants to maintain the status quo. The rank and file want change and Cox appears to be setting Astorino up as a sacrificial run to keep all his RINO lobbyist buddies like D’Amato fat and happy, feeding at the public trough.

While I do believe that RINO’s are a detriment to the Republican Party I will not blindly condemn a man by his supporters or his detractors. Therefore I took the past week since his announcement to see where Astorino stands on the 2nd Amendment and whether he has walked the walk or if talk of fighting the SAFE Act is just a means to get him elected.

First of all, let’s remember that Rob Astorino IS a downstater and the County Executive of Westchester. Therefore I was not expecting to find him to be a carbon copy of Charlton Heston or some Arizonian militiaman when it comes to the 2nd Amendment. Nonetheless, that does not mean he has avoided the fight for the 2nd Amendment…quite the opposite actually.

You see, Rob Astorino IS the County Executive of Westchester County; a county where Republican are outnumbered by Democrats by a margin of 2 to 1; Andrew Cuomo’s home town; a place where Obama won 63% of the vote in 2012. He could easily have waltzed into reelection by touting the myth that gun control is good (or just keeping silent) and then ran the ole flip flop when he was running for Governor.

But that is NOT what he did. Not only did he run his re-election campaign for County Executive as an unabashed supporter of the 2nd Amendment he spent his first term in office actively defending the people of Westchester’s right to keep and bear arms.

Before Astorino first took office, gun shows in the county had been prohibited for years…he quickly remedied that upon being sworn in. Despite groans from the gun grabbing liberal elites, blood did not run in the streets.

Remember when that rag, the Journal News, tried to intimidate and harass gun owners by publishing their names and addresses in the paper, an act that the workers of the JN did not care for when it was repaid in kind?

Instead of following the lead of some elected officials and just rolling over and letting the paper get away with raping the privacy of his constituents, Astorino fought against the paper and wrote the Publisher demanding that the Journal News take down the Interactive Map from their website. An action the JN soon took.

After looking over some old debate footage from his re-election campaign against New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, Astorino came to the defense of gun owners when Bramson continued to equate being a gun owner with being a bad human being by telling Bramson directly: “you know what, it’s time you stop demonizing law-abiding gun owners.”

One of the ways that Bramson was demonizing gun owners was both in his support of the Journal News and in his attack ads against Astorino:

I don’t know about you but that video would make me MORE inclined to support Astorino if I was a New York voter. Did you see what the Bramson campaign was doing though? They highlighted Astorino’s defiance against Cuomo’s so called “assault” weapons ban as if only criminals use those weapons. That only criminals support and go to gun shows.

Where the gun grabbing zealots like Bramson tried to deride gun owners Astorino stood tall for them…in WESTCHESTER County.

Why do I keep bringing up Westchester county? Think of it like this, what if someone who did all the same actions in regards to defending the 2nd Amendment did so in New York City and ran for mayor…and WON?

It would be declared as one of the biggest election wins for the 2nd Amendment since the gun grabbers lost congress in 1994. That mayor would be viewed as a hero for fighting against overwhelming odds to promote the 2nd Amendment.

Well, despite having only a fraction of the population, the ratios and sentiment are similar in Westchester as they are in New York City and the fact that DESPITE being in a liberal hotbed and facing a difficult re-election because of it, Astorino STILL stood by the 2nd Amendment.

That is why I am more apt to believe him when he talks like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=529cZUYEI_w

If this was the first time, two weeks before announcing his candidacy for governor, that Astorino talked about repealing the SAFE Act and defending the right of New Yorkers to keep and bear arms I might be suspect. But from what I found, Astorino has been fighting the good fight and winning…in WESTCHESTER. It would be different if he was Upstate and gun rights was the political expedient view to have, but in Westchester, standing by his convictions on guns doesn’t make things easier for him. Therefore, if he is elected as the next governor of New York I have a feeling the SAFE Act disappears tout suite.

What’s that? Liberals are all ready decrying about the “children”? Well, Astorino has a plan for that. Instead of shredding the rights of New Yorkers that would do nothing to actually protect anyone (other than tyrants and criminals), Astorino has compiled a plan to help prevent tragedies like Newtown.

He calls it SAFER Communities. It stands for Surveillance, Assessment, Focus, Evaluate, Repeat. Instead of the foolhardy notion that denying law abiding citizens their rights does anything to promote safety, the SAFER plan would focus not on the inanimate object but rather on those who may use any object to harm another and WHY. Reasons like mental health, substance abuse, dangerous home environment etc.

It’s an interesting read and can be found here: SAFER Communities

Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I can make it to Westchester and interview the man directly as I have some other questions that expand beyond the SAFE Act; reciprocity with other states, NYC’s autonomy in denying the gun rights of New Yorkers etc.

But from what I see so far, if Rob Astorino stays true to his beliefs on the 2nd Amendment, King Cuomo will have a fight on his hands come November.

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