Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) and Tom King, President of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA), today blasted the Assembly Majority who recently blocked three of the assemblyman’s bills to repeal Gov. Cuomo’s so-called SAFE Act. The bills were held in the Codes Committee this week, meaning they’ve been killed for this legislative cycle and will not be brought to the floor for an up-or-down vote.

“The audacity of the Assembly Majority never ceases to astonish me. Instead of allowing these bills to come to the floor for an up-or-down vote, they chose to hide behind the committee process to avoid public pressure,” said Blankenbush. “Law-abiding New Yorkers are outraged by this infringement of their Second Amendment rights, and it’s my job to make every effort to help revoke this deplorable law and pressure the downstate Assembly Majority members to repeal it.”

“The sad reality is that one political party and one viewpoint dominate the Assembly – the anti-Second Amendment voice of the downstate Assembly Majority members. Upstate New Yorkers who oppose the NY SAFE Act ought to feel disenfranchised. This law is deeply flawed, and was passed in the middle of the night without input from law enforcement, mental health professionals or the public at large,” added King.

Blankenbush sponsors two bills to repeal the gun control law (A.5955 and A.5608). He also sponsors a bill that would reverse the provisions of the measure that redefine many guns, pistols and rifles as assault weapons due to what are essentially cosmetic modifications (A.5280).

The Codes Committee is dominated by 16 Majority members who easily outnumber the six Minority members on the committee. Blankenbush noted that the current structure of assembly committees allows political bias to derail many legislative efforts.

“The governor’s so-called SAFE Act infringes on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Yorkers. This is not a Minority or Majority issue, this is a state issue. We must recognize that downstate liberal special interests are hurting the citizens of this state,” Blankenbush asserted.