WRGB in Albany has a breaking news story posted to their Facebook page, claiming that the state of New York is offering up bribes for people to rat out those possessing illegal firearms – an interesting development considering the adoption of the new anti-Second Amendment SAFE Act legislation. In other words, a firearm that may have been obtained legally could become illegal under the SAFE Act, and anybody who knows you possess said firearm can report you and earn themselves a cool $500.
In addition to the Facebook page, Pat Bailey, a reporter from at CBS 6 in Albany, tweeted that he has a letter from the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services explaining the reward program.
According to Bailey, the Governor’s Office is claiming that the program is well over a year old. But the head of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association says that if that is accurate, “it was a well kept secret”.
The Troy Record Facebook page also has this announcement:
NY State has established a toll-free tip line – 1-855-GUNSNYS (1-855- 486-7697) to encourage residents to report illegal firearm possession. The tip line also allows for information to be submitted via text – individuals can text GUNTIP and their message to CRIMES (274637). The New York State Police staff the tip line 24 hours a day. Upon receiving a call, troopers will solicit as much information as possible regarding a firearm tip then contact the appropriate police agency with the lead to initiate an investigation. If the information leads to an arrest for the illegal possession of a firearm, the “tipster” will be awarded $500.
Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin also reports on the Snitch Line, calling it “neighbor vs. neighbor”:
Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin (R,C,I-Melrose) today released a letter that was emailed from the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police outlining a new initiative by Governor Cuomo and DCJS that would confiscate illegal firearms, including those that are not registered but were previously legal before the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (Safe Act) was rammed through the legislature in January. According to the letter, sent out on Tuesday, the state would provide a $500 reward, through tax dollars, to an individual who turns in his neighbor for possessing an illegal firearm. DCJS is planning a “comprehensive campaign” to announce this initiative which includes a toll-free tip line and details of how to text to submit a tip against their neighbor.
“In December, Governor Cuomo stated that ‘confiscation could be an option,’ and now it appears he is staying true to his word with this dangerous new initiative,” said McLaughlin. “This initiative seeks to turn neighbor against neighbor and use their own tax dollars to pay for the $500 reward. Confiscating these once-legal firearms from law-abiding citizens and pitting neighbors against one another does nothing to address the root cause of violence with guns in our society: illegal handguns used by real criminals. While Albany confiscates firearms, evil will unfortunately still wander our streets.”
Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston sends along a link which provides the text of a letter sent out in July from the Department of Criminal Justice Services to Police Agencies. The letter reads:
At a time when all of us are finding ourselves doing more with less, a reminder about a resource available from New York State that can assist you in your efforts to solve cases, prevent crime and better serve and protect your communities.
The state has established a toll-free tip line – 1-855-XXXXX to encourage residents to report illegal firearm possession. The tip line also allows for information to be submitted via text – individuals can text GUNTIP and their message to XXXXXX. While the state will provide the administrative support and fund the rewards, the investigation and validity of the tip will be up to each local department.
To spread the word about this free resource, New York State is planning a comprehensive campaign, including public service announcements that will air on television and radio stations across Upstate.
The tip line can provide your agencies with another avenue for receiving intelligence about crimes being committed in your jurisdictions. This initiative is designed for communities where no tip lines are in place and is not meant to replace existing gun tip lines.
Here’s how the tip line operates:
The New York State Police staff the tip line 24 hours a day. Upon receiving a call, troopers will solicit as much information as possible regarding a firearm tip, while allowing the individual to remain anonymous. The caller will be informed that this program is not the traditional gun buyback program but rather is focused on identifying individuals who are carrying an illegal firearm.
The State Police will in turn contact the appropriate police agency with the lead to initiate an investigation. Staff from the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) will follow up with that agency to determine the validity of the lead. Once the investigation is completed, the police agency would convey to DCJS the outcome of the investigation.
If the information leads to an arrest for the illegal possession of a firearm, the “tipster” will be awarded $500. DCJS staff will handle all of the financial transactions.
State Police staff will explain the program in its entirety upon notifying an agency that a lead has been generated for their jurisdiction. If you have any questions in the interim, please contact DCJS Deputy Commissioner Tony Perez in the Office of Public Safety at 518–XXXX.
Janine Kava
Director of Public Information
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
We will post video of the CBS report as soon as possible. WRGB’s site is under construction, but they have been updating via Facebook.
Update: Video of the news report can be found here…
A New York state senator has compared Governor Cuomo to the radical Marxist, Che Guevara.
I know what you’re thinking – this had to be a Republican.
Had it been however, that person would have been excoriated for comparing the governor of New York to a mass murdering Marxist.
Instead, the comparison came from Democrat Adriano Espaillat – and it was meant to be a favorable comparison.
According to Politicker:
Governor Andrew Cuomo appreciates the support, State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, we’re sure. When asked if Mr. Cuomo has made a leftward ideological turn this year, Mr. Espaillat replied, “I have no question about it. I think a little bit more and he’ll be to the left of Che Guevara.” He further argued Mr. Cuomo’s switch was “the right thing” and said, “He’s found his home again [and] he’s come back home.”
In Espaillat’s world, a pivot toward Che Guevara is a pivot “back home” to Cuomo’s liberal roots.
A Townhall column reminds us exactly who Guevara was – a true oppressor.
In 1959, Cuba had a population of 6.4 million people (with a higher per capita income than most Europeans, by the way). According to Freedom House, 500,000 Cubans have passed through Cuba’s prison systems, proportionally more than went through Stalin’s Gulag. And many of Che Guevara’s political prisoners qualify as the longest-suffering political prisoners in modern history, having suffered prison camps, forced labor and torture chambers for a period three times as long in Fidel and Che’s Gulag as Alexander Solzhenitsyn suffered in Stalin’s.
The figures for the Che/Castro murders and jailings do not come from any “biased” Cuban-exile source. They’re available from “The Black Book of Communism,” authored by French scholars and translated into English by Harvard University Press, not exactly headquarters for any vast right-wing conspiracy.
In 1956-7, this world-famous “Anti-Imperialist” who often signed his personal correspondence with the moniker “Stalin II,” appalled some of his fellow anti-Batista rebels by applauding the Soviet slaughter of Hungarian freedom fighters. All through the horrifying Soviet massacre, Che dutifully parroted the Soviet script that the workers, peasants and college kids battling Russian tanks in Budapest with small arms and Molotov cocktails were all “Fascists and CIA agents!” who all deserved prompt execution.
“Executions?” Che Guevara exclaimed while addressing the hallowed halls of the U.N. General Assembly Dec. 9, 1964. “Certainly we execute!” he declared, to the claps and cheers of that august body. “And we will continue executing as long as it is necessary! This is a war to the death against the revolution’s enemies!”
According to the “Black Book of Communism,” those firing-squad executions had reached 14,000 by the end of the ’60s, the equivalent, given the relative populations, of more than 3 million executions in the U.S. “I don’t need proof to execute a man,” snapped Che to a judicial toady in 1959. “I only need proof that it’s necessary to execute him! … Judicial evidence is an archaic bourgeois detail. We execute from revolutionary conviction.”
When a Republican assemblyman last week compared Cuomo’s dictatorial tactics to that of past oppressive dictators, it was plastered all over the media and he was forced to issue an immediate apology.
This being a Democrat, and the ruthless dictator actually being one admired by those on the left, it will simply be laughed off.
The New York double standard…
The NYGOP released the following statement today in response to the stealth tax hikes in Governor Cuomo’s new budget:
“While reform-minded governors across America are slashing income tax rates, the most taxed state in the Nation is about to be hit with yet another clandestine rate hike from Democrats.
“The Empire Center’s independent analysis demonstrates how, by extending two taxes that were about to sunset, Gov. Cuomo’s budget actually increases New Yorkers’ tax burden to the tune of $325 million next year and $2.2 billion over the next four years.
“The first tax is a 2 percent ‘assessment’ on electric, water and gas utility bills across the state. Senate Republicans passed a bill that would have eliminated the tax last year and this year, Senator Skelos has called on Cuomo to allow the tax to expire as planned.
“The second tax denies high earners a portion of their deductions for itemized contributions to charity.
“Are extensions of taxes that were about to sunset really new taxes? Let’s ask an expert:
“It’s a new tax. It was supposed to sunset. If it doesn’t sunset, it’s a tax.”
-Andrew Cuomo, 2010
“Now, the Democratic State Committee is airing ads that claim Governor Cuomo’s budget contains no new taxes. Their leader, Andrew Cuomo, was telling the truth in 2010. The Democratic State Committee isn’t telling the truth now.”
In an interview last month, Iowa state Rep. Dan Muhlbauer went on an anti-gun rant in which he expressed his desire for government to enact a retroactive gun ban, in which semi-automatic, as well as other types of firearms, are confiscated.
Via the Daily Caller:
Muhlbauer, a Democrat from the western Iowa town of Manilla, is a cattleman and farmer. The newspaper reported that he owns a .410 shotgun, a .22 rifle and a .22 pistol.
“We cannot have big guns out here as far as the big guns that are out here, the semi-automatics and all of them,” Muhlbauer told the newspaper during a December 19 audiotaped interview. “We can’t have those running around out here. Those are not hunting weapons.”
“We should ban those in Iowa,” he said, adding that such a ban should be applied retroactively.
“We need to get them off the streets — illegally — and even if you have them, I think we need to start taking them,” Muhlbauer told the Daily Times Herald. “We can’t have those out there. Because if they’re out there they’re just going to get circulated around to the wrong people. Those guns should not be in the public’s hands. There are just too many guns.”
Shane Vander Hart writes:
A couple of points…
This isn’t talking about hunting. This amendment was written with the War for Independence in the Founders’ rear-view mirror so to speak. Some will say this is just referring to the military or a state militia, but the Constitution is pretty clear that the militia so to speak is “the people” – our citizenry.
To give you an idea of how radical State Representative Muhlbauer is being here even U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein didn’t suggest a retroactive ban.
As far as letting the public run around with “too big of guns.” Did you realize your typical semi-automatic weapon is less powerful than your average hunting rifle? Will he take those away too?
The idea of confiscating guns was also brought up by popular New York Governor and fellow Democrat, Andrew Cuomo. Just two days after the Muhlbauer interview, Cuomo had this to say about possible gun control legislation:
In the interview, Mr. Cuomo did not offer specifics about the measures he might propose, but, while discussing assault weapons, he said: “Confiscation could be an option. Mandatory sale to the state could be an option. Permitting could be an option — keep your gun but permit it.”
Cuomo mind you, is one of the leading names on the Democrat side of the aisle to run for President in 2016.
And now, the President is also considering side-stepping Congress (a tactic that liberals were vehemently opposed to during the Bush years), and implementing sweeping new gun control laws via Executive Order.
Via Fox News:
Vice President Biden suggested Wednesday that the White House could take unilateral action on gun control, as he kicked off a round of meetings aimed at finding ways to curb gun violence.
The vice president met Wednesday with gun-safety and victims groups, saying he is “determined” to take “urgent action” to address gun violence.
“This is not an exercise in photo opportunities or just getting to ask you all what your opinions are. We are vitally interested in what you have to say,” Biden said.
The White House has sought to avoid prejudging what Biden’s recommendations would be. But the vice president hinted Wednesday that executive action — action by the president in which Congress would not have a say — would indeed be involved.
“Executive action … can be taken,” Biden said, adding “we haven’t decided what that is yet.”
The idea of gun control legislation being implemented via Executive Order led to Drudge posting this headline:
If Democrats are looking for an actual revolution in this country, there would be no quicker path than the idea of government agents trying to seize weapons from law-abiding citizens. We’re entering dangerous territory here folks.
While the Cuomo administration has experienced what some would call an historic term in office, one aspect contributing to that description has been the Governor’s insistence that New York is open for business, promoting a new business-friendly atmosphere in the Empire state.
Just a few months ago, the governor had this to say about conducting business in New York:
“The focus of the administration has always been and will continue to be making New York work to help create jobs and grow businesses in every region of the state. In the spirit of entrepreneurial government and through our New York Works initiatives, we have positioned the state as a partner to the private sector to encourage billions of dollars of new investment in nanotechnology and other growth industries.”
It was less than a year ago that Cuomo launched a new marketing initiative called, “New York Open For Business”, which according to a press release, had the following aim:
In recent years, businesses have left the state in record numbers and job losses have devastated local communities, giving New York the image of having one of the worst business climates in the nation. The goal of the “New York Open for Business” initiative is to promote the many assets of investing in New York so the state can regain its reputation as a business-friendly location.
Sad news to report today however, indicating that it doesn’t matter if you open your doors to business, if nobody wants to go inside and buy anything.
Via Capitol Confidential:
This is interesting in light of today’s scheduled events, which include an update on Wall Street’s contribution to the state economy by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and a NY Works meeting which is part of a Cuomo initiative to rebuild the state’s economy.
The Tax Foundation which, granted, looks askance at taxes, ranks New York dead last in terms of the business tax climate. They cite not just the income taxes but the state’s property taxes, unemployment taxes (overly complex and saddled with surcharges, they say) and overall complexity.
Here’s what they said:
Despite moderate corporate taxes, New York scores at the bottom this year by having the worst individual income tax, the sixth-worst unemployment insurance taxes, and the sixth-worst property taxes. The states in the bottom 10 suffer from the same afflictions: complex, non-neutral taxes with comparatively high rates.
Here is how the rest of the United States stacks up.
This of course, comes on the heels of a summertime report in which the Empire state was ranked dead last in business friendliness, and saw rankings drop in several other categories such as Quality of Life, Economy, Access to Capital, Cost of Living, and Infrastructure & Transportation.
As it stands now, doing business in New York under the Cuomo administration is an historically bad idea.
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