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Looking carefully at the current proposed Bills to ban airguns in NY State, I feel that they violate both Federal Law and the US Constitution. Here’s why…
You can read the proposed New York State Senate Bill S9215 here.
You can read the proposed New York State Assembly Bill A10701 here.
Please note that these are my personal comments and questions only. I am not suggesting that you should agree with them. Also, I am not a lawyer of any type.
However I am a resident of New York State and – when I became a legal naturalized citizen of the USA – was required to study (and be tested on) the Constitution of this country.
So here I have two questions about certain points in the proposed Bills. I am offering them here as an open letter to the members of the New York State Assembly and Senate.
In my view, the sponsors of these proposed Bills need to answer (at least) the following two questions. As follows:
1. Federal Statute (15 U.S.C. § 5001)
My understanding is that Federal Statute (15 U.S.C. § 5001) dealing with look-alike or imitation firearms specifically exempts traditional B-B and pellet-firing air guns.
This same Federal Law also specifically supersedes any state or local laws that seek to address the same issue.
In my understanding, this Law was enacted to prevent imitation firearms from being mistaken for real weapons in police, or “combat,” situations. As that is precisely the stated aim of the two new proposed Bills, I have to wonder why they are necessary.
Here is the precise text used New York Senate Bill S9215. “While state law prohibits the sale of realistic looking “toy” weapons, there is a carveout for ‘air rifle, pellet gun, or “B-B” gun'”.
That sentence in the proposed Bills confirms that current New York State Law conforms with Federal Statute (15 U.S.C. § 5001) for BB guns and air rifles at the present time. (Although they do not deign to reference that Statute). Instead they describe this as a “carveout”, thus attempting – in my opinion – to hide the fact that they intend to overrule a Federal Law which has been in place since 1988. Wow!
So my first question is this: “Why do the sponsors of these two proposed Bills believe that they are able to overrule Federal Statute (15 U.S.C. § 5001)?”
2. First Amendment To The US Constitution
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees five fundamental Freedoms: Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly and Petition.
My understanding is that Freedom of the Press ensures government may not act to prevent you from sharing your message broadly. For example in books, newspapers, blogs, or on Social Media, etc. In other words, it prevents unreasonable censorship.
So the First Amendment protects the right to express opinions, share information, and – by the way – criticize the government.
The proposed Bills aim to prevent “Marketing” of airguns and BB guns to New York State residents.
As the proposed Bills do not bother to define “Marketing”, I am going to do it here. In fact, I am going to use the definition provided by the American Marketing Association. As follows…
“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large.”
Note the inclusion of the descriptors “communicating” and “exchanging”. In other words, the sharing of information. These are integral parts of Marketing and also Freedom of Speech.
Is also my understanding that the First Amendment to the US Constitution supersedes any state and local laws. These broad points are supported by the recent defeat of the anti-gun California Assembly Bill 2571.
You can read more at Individual Rights
So my second question is this: “Why do the sponsors of these two proposed Bills believe that they are able to overrule the provisions of the First Amendment to the US Constitution?”
Summary:
As you can tell, I am deeply concerned about the wording and intent of these proposed Bills that would effectively ban airguns in NY State.
Appearing – as they do in my view – to violate both long-standing Federal Law and the US Constitution, they deserve never to become law.
The post Why The Proposed Bills To Ban Airguns In NY State Violate Federal Law And The US Constitution appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.
