I can’t help but notice the outrageous irony in this: that the recent program to buy back illegal guns gave participants up to $400 for surrendering a functioning weapon, while granting them anonymity. These weapons may have been wrongly used, and now those who forfeited their ownership are cleared from exposure.
At the same time, law-abiding owners of legally-registered guns have to actively file an application to be exempt from public records, and must do so by a finite date. This requirement endangers law-abiding gun owners and non-owners alike. Criminals would now know who to ‘rob’ of guns, and who is ‘gunless’ and therefore vulnerable.
The public exemption form entitled “NYS Firearms License Request for Public Exemption”, requires a licensed gun-owner to give reasons why “you, or your family’s life might be endangered by disclosure”. Excuse me? This should be a no-brainer. I pose the question: Did the Sandy Hook parents feel their families’ lives were in danger? I think not. So, in my opinion, the gun buy-back granting anonymity to those who surrendered guns, while at the same time providing no anonymity to gun-owners and non-owners alike is terribly flawed, and an example of a knee-jerk reaction to a very horrific incident by a mentally ill person. Something is terribly wrong with this picture.
Rosanne Spinner
New Hyde Park resident
