Halloran eyes gun licensing rule change

City Councilmember Dan Halloran is outraged by a proposed rule amendment to the city’s gun licensure regulations that would allow the NYPD to revoke or deny a firearm license to applicants.
“The NYPD’s rule amendment would allow the city to deny a gun license to almost any law-abiding New Yorker, and for downright silly reasons,” said Halloran, who spoke out at a public hearing on September 22. “We are stepping on a very slippery slope here. Many of these requirements are painfully vague. For example, any ‘violation’ disqualifies a potential applicant from owning a firearm. That can include ‘violations’ that have nothing to do with one’s fitness to own a gun, such as building code and sanitation violations, traffic tickets, or even failing to sweep your front sidewalk. And others have nothing at all do with gun safety or crime in any way. Now, you can be denied a gun permit for poor driving, termination from a job, or failing to pay your cable bill on time.”
Halloran also questioned an introduced bill at City Hall which seeks to regulate possession of a weapon as it relates to drinking alcohol.
“The application of DWI laws to gun ownership must be precise and well thought out. It is clear that the legislation in its current form would lead to prosecutorial misuse, confuse the judiciary, and result in legal challenges. We need to act cautiously when dealing with constitutional rights of our citizens.”
Halloran noted the glaring discrepancies in research provided by anti-gun advocacy groups, and, he noted, the Police Department admitted there was less than a one percent rate of persons misusing a licensed firearm in New York City.
“The reality is that law-abiding, license applying New Yorkers do not abuse their right to a firearm,” Halloran said. “We have no reason to treat them as criminals in waiting because anti-gun nuts want to prevent honest people from defending their homes, businesses, families, and their persons. The Founding Fathers felt every man had the right to defend their home, their family, and their property. These amendments are just another way for the city to infringe on the Constitutional right of New Yorkers to keep and bear arms. The city will stoop to almost any level to take this basic liberty away – even if it means bending the Constitution and defying all common sense.”