County legislators praised for again opposing SAFE Act

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature again gave a unanimous vote for the repeal of the SAFE Act on Wednesday. The Legislature opposed the gun control measure soon after it was passed by the State Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January 2013.

County legislators say the legislation makes criminals out of law-abiding gun owners, and also has imposed financial burdens on counties and gun owners. The SAFE also “does not increase the safety of the public,” according to the resolution approved on Wednesday.

Copies of the resolution will be forwarded to local state legislators, Gov. Cuomo, local towns and villages, and InterCounty of Western New York.

The Legislature was praised by Mattie Zarpentine of Holley, regional director for New York Revolution, a group that formed after the SAFE Act was passed.

Zarpentine said 52 out of 62 counties have gone on the record to oppose the SAFE Act, which she said is unconstitutional and an infringement on Second Amendment rights. Orleans County is the only county to have the Legislature and all of the town and village boards formally oppose the SAFE Act.

“Orleans County residents should be extremely proud of our strong stance in support of our Constitutional rights,” Zarpentine said during Wednesday’s Legislature meeting. “Those resolutions sent a very clear message.”

She was joined by about a dozen New York Revolution supporters at the Legislature meeting.

“Here we are, nearly two years after the passage of that resolution, unwavering in our resolve to fight tyranny,” Zarpentine said in an address to the Legislature. “What we understood about the SAFE Act back then has proven true: It has done nothing to make us any safer. It has only managed to infringe upon the freedom of the law-abiding citizens of New York.”

County Legislator Don Allport, R-Gaines, echoed those comments, saying the state government has been “overbearing” in the SAFE Act, limiting residents’ right to bear arms.