Leroy Pyle recently sent us a web site (see below) from the NY Times, regarding the dichotomy of concealed carry laws in the Tri-State New York area, encompassing NY, NJ and Connecticut. The article was revealing but terribly incomplete. If you've not already read the piece from the Times, go there now and come back to hear the "Rest of the Story," as Paul Harvey would say it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/12/nyregion/12GUNS.html

Well, whaddya think guys (and ladies)? Huh? Pretty silly set of laws eh? And one guy recently wrote to me calling me names because I wrote about the cell phone gun in a satirical way. But wait, there's more.

In most of NY State, getting a carry permit is not terribly difficult. That is, if you do not live on Long Island, NYC and Westchester Counties. In some parts of the State, as in the Adirondack area, you may not only carry concealed, but you may carry unconcealed. However I would not recommend that in these times. Which is interesting in extremis, because the level of education, income and general position of these counties precludes any sort of problems once a permit is finally granted.

The worst part of the story of gun licensing in Westchester County is the manner in which your license is decided and who makes the decision. Let me walk you through it here in Westchester.

Let's say you want a concealed carry permit for work related purposes. Say you carry large amounts of cash. In reality, one who qualifies for a carry permit, one who meets all of the basic requirements used in judging whether you should carry or not, should be granted an unrestricted carry permit regardless of the "need." But that's another story. I will relate one case in point, one about which I've already written on these pages, but will repeat it here.

A man living in NYC had been robbed and beaten on many occasions whilst operating his candy store business. His requests for a store permit had been denied for the usual unreasonable reasons, because that's the way it is in NYC. If memory serves, he had made about 15 applications and had been robbed and beaten at gunpoint more than that number. Well, his 16th application was approved.

Finally!

Only one problem. He was murdered the week prior, whilst waiting for the Gestapo to make up their minds.

Now to get back to Westchester. You make application. You provide all the reference letters, meet the requirements of proving beyond reasonable doubt that you do carry large amounts of cash, and generally, nothing in your background is holding anything back.

You make the application with the Department of Public Safety. Similar in some ways to the Department of Silly Walks. Anyway, this department is located in the County Clerk's offices in White Plains. The men who decide your fate first, are the detectives who work in that department. These are ex Westchester County Police officers and detectives largely, who administer your application. They look at it and decide yay or nay. Either way, your application goes to a judge.

Now here is where the problem starts. If the detectives don't like you or something about your background, the cut of your gib or whatever (remember, you meet ALL the requirements, we are speaking here of the PERSONAL JUDGMENT of the officer and they ARE very judgmental), so either way, your application goes to a judge. With the recommendation of the detective or NOT. But the judge is usually predisposed to the decision of the cop downstairs. So even if you meet the requirements, the judge will defer to the recommendation of the officer.

But that's not all. There are about 12 or more judges who pass on pistol permit applications at the county courthouse, adjacent to the county clerk's offices. And each one is prejudiced to the Nth degree, some for and most against, citizens carrying guns for any reason. So the detectives can ROUTE YOUR APP to the appropriate judge and gain everything they wish. Route it to Judge Judy (fictitious name) and you couldn't get a permit if you were the Pope. Route it to another judge and your chances are great. One judge wants to see people whose mug shots look suspicious to him.

I remember that when I made my original app, the particular judge wrote me to come see him in his chambers regarding my permit. I went and he was nice enough, but when I asked him if it were SOP to see the applicant, he said "no." But in my case, I looked like a Mafioso he once sent up. And he was Italian, like me. I got my permit.

See, they got you every which way including loose. If someone in the department doesn't like you for any reason, even an unrighteous one, you lose. Even if you have the best hook you can get.

The carry laws in NYState are unjust for the above reason. But they are even more unjust for other reasons. The police who administer there, are not nice people. They are NOT nice. One young man in his fifties was told to downgrade his permit from employment related carry to target hunting. Why? Because of an innocent incident not worth talking about. But because this man had words with the detective on one occasion, he was being set up for a fall. He obeyed the order and it was an order, to downgrade. Meanwhile, the detectives sent the incident report to the county attorney who then served the man with an order to show cause as to why his permit should be revoked and why his guns should not be confiscated.

The officer had no right to tell the man to reduce his permit. But the man was dutifully following the directive which he thought was righteous. Figuring that he would (as promised) be able to upgrade it after the traditional three month period, he did as he was told.

Only in doing so, he was not allowed to get his employment carry back, as the judge was SELECTED by the detective ... SELECTED ... and they knew she would deny the man his right to carry. Further, she even revoked his license and confiscated his weapons. And DID NOT permit his to sell them through an FFL.In this state of New York, you have no rights when it comes to guns.

And now, I would like to tell you another truth. This process, now ongoing in Westchester, is the boiler plate for the entire state. THE ENTIRE STATE. This is what our Republican Governor Pataki has done to us. Sold us out for political reasons.

Bob Dylan wrote, "This world is ruled by violence!" I now disagree. This world is ruled by politicians. And by God it should be ruled by law abiding citizens. Anything less is unacceptable.