No Gun Polls in NY / NYC

[nyrifleman]

I'm a New Yorker, though I live upstate where gun laws are relatively sane.

I was recently thinking: Yes, NY is a strongly Democratic state, with an anti-gun culture... but how many peole here are actually pro and how many are actually anti? So I did what I always do in such situations and looked up polls...

THERE AREN'T ANY!

Nobody, whether pro-gun, anti-gun, from New York or from outside New York, has ever tried to ask the question: How do people in NY feel about guns?

I think this is a problem. Politicians care about votes, but they have no idea how many votes a given position on guns will give them. And maybe it's a blessing, because there are so many anti-gunners in New York that we'd always be a losing minority. But my gut feeling is that there are actually more gun people here than one might think.

</rant>

 

[Pat M]

I agree with you. I have a lot of friends and co-workers who are gun owners and shoot occasionally, and almost none of them are NRA members or are aware of the anti-gun politics at the state level.

 

[scaatylobo]

Western NYS

I live now in WNYS [ born in NYC for 25 years ] and I agree that the rest of the state,excluding NYC is either pro-gun or dont care about them at all.

It sure would be interesting to see that poll taken.

BUT the powers that be do not want to know what the PEOPLE want or would vote for.

 

[tarakian]

I live in NY also. From what I can tell, other than NYC, the majority of the people in the state are in favor of guns. Unfortunately, the rest of the state has to suffer for NYC. I think an unbiased pollster (if there is such a thing) might even be surprised at the results for NYC, probably much closer to even than one would be lead to believe by the political rhetoric that emanates from there.

 

[freyasman]

I was stationed in upstate NY, (Ft Drum), and I asked several people why they tolerated such ridiculous gun laws; they, for the most part, seemed to think all states were pretty much the same. I pointed out that I didn't think I should have to pay $150, and wait 4-6 months for the state of NY to give me a permit to own my own property!?!? And the prevailing opinion was that I didn't need a handgun anyway. I gave up talking to them, after that.

 

[Midwest]

What I'd like to know is, has there been any challenges to the long standing New York State 'Sullivan Law' (gun control law since 1911) , if so how many? If not, then why not? And are there any new challenges to the 'Sullivan Law' planned in the near future?

 

[303tom]

I don`t know how you all from New York do it................

 

[ZeSpectre]

I'm a New Yorker, though I live upstate where gun laws are relatively sane.

I was born and grew up in upstate NY. Then I moved to Va.
Trust me, nowhere in NY are the gun laws "relatively sane" yet. <sigh>.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

Aunt of mine came down from NYC, Manhattan I think is where she lives, haven't been there since my Great-Grandpa died when i was twelve and don't have any other reason to go (maybe when the gun laws change and I won't be an outlaw no more up there).

We're in Florida, not bad for gun laws, not great either (I'm jealous of Arizona and Vermont). She finds out my mom has two guns, guns I bought her years back. Nothing special, just a Taurus 85 and a Kel-Tec P32. So instead of staying down in Sought Florida for an extra day she comes up to Central Florida one day before she has to leave to go shooting with me and the fiancee. I open my walk-in closet and she sees my two gun safes and almost loses her mind and starts asking me why I need so many guns. I could only laugh at the poor woman. A person may only need one gun, but it's nice being an American and having the choice to own as many as you want (heck I finally sold a couple pistols for the first time out of my private collection, a Star BM and Ruger SBH (I have a SRH).

We took five pistols up to the range with us so she could get herself a taste of variety and she had herself a great time and kept taking pictures. She shot my S&W 15-3 .38 special, my mom's Taurus 85, my Taurus PT99, my Ruger P90(not so much more than fifteen rounds), and Heritage Rough Rider .22lr 6.5". You'd think she gone to heaven or something.

Fun thing was, when she went back to NYC and started showing all her friends the gun pictures and what they wanted to know where she got to shoot them all and couldn't believe she did it in Florida. They asked her if I had a permit (she called me up and asked me if I had a permit for the guns, just plain weird) and why I needed so many. She giggled when she told me about how she told them I had this "huge" arsenal in my closet. Huh. I buy a couple of guns a year if I'm lucky, and few thousand rounds of ammo. I may only buy a few guns this year. Maybe three pistols and a rifle, cause I can and cause I want to, and I don't have kids yet (cause when the kids show up, the college funds will suck up my gun money I'm sure).

Real strange how those NYC folks don't get to do the same. Doesn't make any sense. I know a dozen plus guys like myself, plus a few more greybeards with collections going back to the Civil War along with Tax Stamped goodies.

Kind of says something when a government can't trust, doesn't want to trust its own citizenry.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

All that needs be said about the NY Sullivan Act, and (some) New Yorkers' penchant for imposing their gun control on those who don't want it:
http://www.thegunzone.com/rkba/rkba-25.html
H. L. Mencken, "The Uplifters Try It Again", Baltimore Sun, 30 Nov 1925.

Aunt of mine came down from NYC ... she sees my two gun safes ... starts asking me why I need so many guns.

The New York mindset, conditioned by a 100 years of the unquestionable Sullivan Act, at most will allow a need for maybe one gun strictly as a weapon for very tightly controlled defense of self (or defense of $100,000 or more). Tennessee law recognizes self defense, but also non-weapon ownership of guns for sports and as curios, ornaments or keepsakes--collectors items. The limited number of competitions I enter (.22 Silhouette, black powder rifle, black powder pistol, vintage and modern military rifle and pistol) as well as small game and big game hunting, lead me to want a dozen or more guns. Of course to some like New York madison avenue ad man Carl Bakal I have no right to bear arms, not even the one .38 revolver I keep for home protection, which some other New Yorkers might allow me to have after jumping through multiple hoops (or being in a position to offer a city official back stage passes to an Aerosmith concert).

Why no public opinion polls on guns in NYC? Follow the reader comments in the New York newspaper websites on the recent cases of travelers/tourists with out-of-state permits busted in NYC for handgun possession: I noticed a significant number of NYC residents who did not toe the party line, although there were those who did trot out the usual boilerplate arguments. I would love to see a properly balanced poll on actual NYC residents' honest opinions on guns.

 

[PR-NJ]

I'm a New Yorker, though I live upstate where gun laws are relatively sane.

As my brother (an Upstate resident) says, "Upstate New York is not New York."

 

[pseudonymity]

NYC and upstate are so different in so many ways it is just hard to explain. North of Westchester county could be considered another state in a lot of ways, and gun attitudes are just one of them.

You can travel through Western Vermont, Western Mass, upstate NY and into North PA and things and people look and act pretty similar. Cross over a river into NYC and beyond, things are just not the same.

Sadly, the NYC politics really drives the state process. You get what you pay for.

 

[scaatylobo]

Sullivan Law

That law is only active in NYC and NOT NYS.

I lived in NYC and now reside in NYS for over 40 years.

The difference is as much as one state to another - really.

But I would rather live in a state that allows class III to exist.

Funny that NYC/NYS does not catch on to how much it loses in taxes due to the stupid laws.

 

[crracer_712]

I thought NY and NYC was all pro gun, all the episodes of law and order I watch always have guns involved...

 

[MilsurpShooter]

If you could take Albany and NYC and makes them New York, while the rest of us live in New Amsterdam I'd be happy. However the population of NYC outweighs the rest of the state. Hate it

 

[Old Shooter]

I was born and grew up in upstate NY. Then I moved to Va.
Trust me, nowhere in NY are the gun
laws "relatively sane" yet. <sigh>.
__________________

+1 or more

I moved from new york to Texas in 1982 and then Virginia in 1993 and it was nice to NOT be treated like a criminal when purchasing a handgun or a rifle for that matter. Walk in, fill out the paperwork and in 5 minutes walk out with the handgun. Might be an issue for New York but none of my handguns has shot anyone yet...50+ years of gun ownership. Good bye New York

 

[Sniper66]

Much of the country and especially NY are fed a steady diet of anti-gun "news". Non-gun people always ask the question that immediately betrays their ignorance, "Why do you need so many guns?" When have you ever been asked, why do you want so many guns or why do you like having so many guns? And is usually asked with a grimace. My answer, if it's a woman is...., Why do you need so many pairs of shoes or more than one necklace or more than one TV in your house?
That idiot question about "need" is judgmental and assumes there is only one reason to own a gun. The other question expresses curiosity and interest. I will not tolerate idiot questions without a commensurate response, whether the person is from NY or elsewhere. My wife and many friends are from NY and ALL of them are curious about my guns.

 

[Pat M]

Just to give you guys another idea of how bad it is here, Nassau County, just east of Queens, is currently scheduling license interviews for February 2013 if you drop your application off today. License is "usually" received six months after that. So if you apply for your pistol license today you might get it in August of 2013. Suffolk county is currently 6 months or slightly less.

 

[AEA]

Been all over the World, practically everywhere.......
NEVER been to NY State and NEVER plan to go. They have NOTHING there I want or need.

 

[sirsloop]

I grew up in Watkins Glen (finger lakes) and i'm (obviously) very pro-gun. A lot of my friends still in NY own, and ccw. Upstate is a different culture than NYC and the surrounding areas. Its more like PA, very rural, hunter friendly, gun friendly, etc. Seeing people walk up and down the street with a shotgun or bow during deer season is normal.

Now that i've moved to NJ...LOL... now i've got my hands full with the dems! :x

 

[exavid]

Unfortunately most states with a large Metroplex tend to become less gun tolerant over time. The three big cities in CA are what drive the anti-gun action there, ditto for Oregon with it's Portland - Salem -Eugene axis. Washington state is beginning to tend that way due to the mass of population in the Puget Sound area. I don't know exactly why this is so, maybe because city people tend to be less trusting of their neighbors and people in general. For some reason logic doesn't seem to work on them either, they mostly seem to think if there's a law against guns there won't be any.

 

[svtruth]

Years ago (like>50) I remember going to Coney Island. There was all sorts of carnival stuff including shooting galleries using tube magazine loaded .22s firing shorts. It was fun.

 

[Hocka Louis]

Poll That Counts

There WAS a gun poll in NYC, a major one. Anti-gun zealot Rudy Giuliani (that's right -- and one of the reason he did so poorly as a national candidate), the NYC Mayor who buttonholed then Pres. Bush I in a helicopter and wasted the 15 minutes asking him to ban civilian ownership of firearms nationally, tried to ban them in NYC and held a referendum which lost by something like a 3:1 margin.

He actually publicly apologized for pushing it and for being so wrong about what the people felt.

 

[JWF III]

I don`t know WHY you all from New York do it................

Fixed it for you

There are at least 40 free states to choose from. Some more free than the others, but at least they know what the Constitution is. And what it means

Wyman

 

[scaatylobo]

SIRSLOOP got it correct

I grew up in Watkins Glen (finger lakes) and i'm (obviously) very pro-gun. A lot of my friends still in NY own, and ccw. Upstate is a different culture than NYC and the surrounding areas. Its more like PA, very rural, hunter friendly, gun friendly, etc. Seeing people walk up and down the street with a shotgun or bow during deer season is normal.

Now that i've moved to NJ...LOL... now i've got my hands full with the dems! :x

If your capable of reading comprehension,please read the above and understand that we are NOT - repeat NOT NYC when in the REST of the state.

We hunt and fish and EDC a gun with a permit that allows CCW for LIFE or until revoked for cause [ domestic violence,or conviction of crime ].

I am not saying its as free as other states as we cannot get any supressors or class III,but its sure as heck beats Mass. or NYC, or any state that dont allow CCW.