Congressional Candidate Blasts Unconstitutional and Biased “Sullivan Law”

Congressional Candidate Blasts Unconstitutional and Biased “Sullivan Law”

Buffalo, NY –-(AmmoLand.com)- Congressional Candidate and attorney Michael Giuliano (R. 28th Dist.), released this statement today in response to this week’s Supreme Court decision applying the Second Amendment to the States:

I commend the Supreme Court for correctly concluding that the Constitutional and fundamental right to bear arms, a right of self-defense, is binding on the states. If we need the permission of the police and judges to bear arms, it’s not a right but a privilege. The Court also demonstrated that it understands that so-called “gun control” in America had its origins in government discrimination and a desire to prevent newly freed slaves from defending themselves against lynch mobs.

Yet, we in the North should not be too smug. Under present law, New York makes it very difficult for lower-income people, the people who often need them most, to obtain pistol permits. If people have a right to bear arms for self-defense, it is unconscionable for state officials to make them jump through hoops for a year or longer to get a permit. In many high-crime neighborhoods, people can’t wait that long to protect themselves.

It is also wrong that permits can be denied based on the whim and fancy of a state judge or police bureaucrat. Therefore, I call on state officials to immediately repeal the Sullivan Law and start treating gun ownership as a right not a privilege granted by the state. I also call on New York’s county clerks and county court judges to begin immediately issuing pistol permit licenses following a successful instant background (NICS) check.

If elected to Congress, I will make it a top priority to make sure that state officials, including judges, who violate the rights of citizens to bear arms be sued or even criminally prosecuted if appropriate. And I will make it my business to investigate any claim that race has been a factor in the denial of any gun permit in Western New York.

In conclusion, New York should immediately repeal its unconstitutional gun laws. In the meantime, I call on all state judges to stop denying permits to New York citizens in violation of the right to bear arms and I further call upon Congresswoman Louise Slaughter to stand with me against this corrupt, prejudicial and unjust pistol permit licensing scheme that favors the wealthy and well-connected and thwarts the rights of the law-abiding residents of high-crime neighborhoods who are left at the mercy of failed political leaders.

We now await comment by the Congresswoman as to whether she believes that her constituents’ right to bear arms and defend themselves should be recognized or whether she thinks that Senator Sullivan’s law, grounded in corruption and prejudice, should continue to deny Western New York residents a constitutional right.