Stupid Is As Stupid Does: NY Leaders Want to Mandate Microstamping In Response to Tragedy

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced several actions she’s taking to “combat hate” and “prevent gun violence.”  

“The horrific and despicable act of terror committed by a white supremacist this past weekend in Buffalo showed that we as a country are facing an intersection of two crises: the mainstreaming of hate speech – including white nationalism, racism and white supremacy – and the easy access to military-style weapons and magazines,” Gov. Hochul said. “This is a wake-up call and here in New York we are taking strong steps to directly address this deadly threat.”

Here are the changes Gov. Hochul is making: 

• Signs Executive Order to Establish a New Domestic Terrorism Unit within the Office of Counter Terrorism with Focus on Deradicalization and Threat Assessment Management; Establishes State Police Unit Devoted to Tracking and Responding to Extremist Violent Threats on Social Media
• Signs Executive Order Requiring State Police to File Extreme Risk Protection Orders with Probable Cause Under NYS Red Flag Law to Prohibit Potentially Dangerous People From Purchasing and Possessing Guns
• Proposes Legislation to Close “Other Gun” Loophole by Revising and Widening the Definition of a Firearm to Get Dangerous Guns off the Street
• Will Work with the Legislature to Pass Legislation to Strengthen Crime Gun Reporting and Require Microstamping of Semiautomatic Pistols to Help Law Enforcement Better Track Guns Fired During Crimes
• Issues Referral to Office of the Attorney General to Investigate Social Media Platforms Used by Buffalo Shooting Suspect to Broadcast, Promote and Facilitate Violence

“We will continue to confront this epidemic head-on, stamp out extremists who threaten our communities, strengthen the toughest gun laws in the country and do whatever it takes to keep New Yorkers safe,” Gov. Hochul added.

“Whatever it takes” is code for a whole-hog expansion of the surveillance state and the further dismantling of the Constitutional rights of law-abiding residents. 

In a nutshell, Gov. Hochul is actually:

• Authorizing authorities to spy on disfavored citizens who use social media
• Incentivizing state police to confiscate guns on a mere probable-cause standard (less than a preponderance-of-evidence standard which is generally considered to be greater than 50 percent) via ERPOs
• Blanketly prohibiting certain gun parts and kits to stamp out home gun making
• Mandating microstamping, an inherently flawed technology, to starve the availability of lawful handguns vis a vis California
• Pushing state prosecutors to censor free speech online

All will fundamentally make New Yorkers less free and more under the jackboot of the ruling elite. And none of it will make New Yorkers safer.

Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, pointed out to GunsAmerica that all the tools to catch the killer in Buffalo were already on the books but authorities dropped the ball.

“Before Governor Hochul makes demands to further restrict the Constitutional rights of law-abiding New Yorkers to keep and bear arms to protect themselves against deranged and racially-motivated attackers, she must answer to her citizens why the laws already in place were not full-implemented to protect the victims in Buffalo,” said Oliva.

“The suspected murderer was brought in by New York State Police for a mental health evaluation but was never brought before a judge for a mental health adjudication after he made threats against his school. Law enforcement and school authorities neglected to invoke New York’s Extreme Risk Protection Order, or ‘red flag’ law,” he continued.

“Had authorities followed through on their obligation to protect their communities, this murderer would have been prevented from purchasing a firearm by being listed as a prohibited individual in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The laws and the tools to prevent this tragedy were in place, as they were in Parkland, Florida. This is another example of authorities not using the tools available to prevent these tragedies,” Oliva concluded.

New Yorkers are already behind the eight ball with respect to Constitutional rights. But things are about to get a whole lot worse.