Democrats in the downstate New York suburbs of Westchester County want to stop a scheduled gun show in the area, but their efforts appear to be on track to be rebuffed by the Republican county executive.
Mike Kaplowitz, a Democrat and chairman of the Board of Legislators, accused County Executive Rob Astorino of playing politics when he scheduled the gun show — the first at the center in four years, LoHud.com reported.
“The speculation is this is just a crass political move on his part to garner support in the county for his upcoming runs for county executive and governor,” Kaplowitz said.
Kaplowitz threatened he would advance a bill that would instantly ban gun shows on county property so it’s voted on Jan. 9 – before the planned gun show on Jan. 21 and 22.
However, LoHud noted that Astorino will veto any bill prohibiting gun shows, his spokesman Phil Oliva said Wednesday, and overriding the veto requires 12 votes. In order to reach this number, Democrats would need support from a few of the seven Republicans and one Conservative Party member on the 17-member board.
In response to banning gun shows, the board’s Republican caucus will offer a counter proposal establishing a law that would set up gun show procedures.
“We can take an important step in Westchester that will preserve the Constitutional protections of citizens while assuring the public that a proven successful procedure for the event is in place,” Republican Majority Leader John Testa said in the statement to LoHud.com
Former County Executive Andy Spano, a Democrat, put in place the original gun-show ban at the center following the events of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.
Astorino lifted the ban when he first came into office six years ago, but canceled a show scheduled for February 2013 after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
According to the Daily Voice, Paul Feiner, a Democrat and town supervisor of Greenburgh, wrote in an email to residents is a “backward step” for the county. He later added, “Wonder if there are liability issues for the county if someone purchases a gun at the county office building and shoots someone negligently or intentionally?”
Feiner made no mention that his own party wants to repeal a law, passed in Congress in 2005, that protects gun manufacturers and sellers from frivolous lawsuits when their products are misused by individuals, including criminals.
A similar uproar over a gun store that opened in the tony Westchester town of Harrison happened last month.