Jacobs Blasts Bill Banning Gun Raffles in New York State

(Buffalo, NY) New York State Senator Chris Jacobs (60^th SD), issued the following statement in opposition to legislation that was introduced that would ban gun raffles in New York State with certain limited exceptions.

Senator Chris Jacobs:

"The bill introduced in the Senate yesterday banning gun raffles is another example of the progressive left attempting to chip away at the second amendment rights of law-abiding and responsible gun owners, and I will vehemently oppose any effort to even bring it to a vote in the upcoming session.

I personally attended three gun raffles this past weekend and can tell you that the premise of this legislation is intentionally misleading.  It ignores the fact that any winner of a raffle is subject to the same background checks of someone purchasing a firearm at a registered gun dealer or sporting goods store.  In a cynical attempt to limit public opposition, it exempts police benevolent groups, volunteer firefighters and veterans groups, but unfairly targets sportsmen’s groups who have a long history of promoting gun safety. 

I also believe this bill is a violation of these organizations freedom of association.  I cannot understand why any legislators would purposely undermine the ability of these groups to support themselves, unless their longer-term goal is to continue their assault on responsible gun owners. 

Just like the Green Light Bill and the backdoor effort to make people buy new license plates, this bill reinforces how dangerous the legislative agenda of the Albany Democrats is to upstate voters and upstate values.”