The tight passage of a bill banning gun shows at county-owned facilities by Westchester lawmakers this week may be all for naught as final approval is likely to be vetoed by the county executive.
The bill, which was approved by a 9-8 partisan vote of the 17-member county Board of Legislators on Monday, Jan. 9, comes less than two weeks before a scheduled gun show at the County Center in White Plains; the occurrence of which was only made apparent late last month, according to some Democratic lawmakers.
But according to County Attorney Robert Meehan, even if the bill were signed into law by County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, prior to the show, the county would be contractually obligated to let the expo go forward, or risk litigation. The show is poised to net $29,000, according to representative from the county Parks Department, and there are currently no other gun shows scheduled for this year.
Following its approval, the bill will now go before Astorino where the county executive is expected to veto its passage. At that point, the veto would be sent back to lawmakers who would then require a super majority vote to override the county executive’s veto. A super majority requires the vote of 12 members of the Board of Legislators.
Majority Leader John Testa, a Republican, who spoke to the Review last week, said passage of the law—which would require an override of Astorino’s veto and three Republican votes—is unlikely.
According to Joe Sgamatto, a spokesman for the Democratic Caucus, legislators will have up to a year to call for an override in the event of a veto from Astorino.
The bill, part of a Democratic initiative last discussed at a committee meeting in June 2016, looks to effectively reinstate a ban on gun shows originally imposed by former County Executive Andrew Spano, a Democrat, in 1999 which lapsed in 2010, the year Astorino first took office.
More recently, public debate over the circulation of guns in Westchester reignited after a gun store opened in Harrison less than 1,000 feet from an elementary school late last year, spurring a torrent of backlash from residents, and an online petition garnering 3,500 signatures.
Since then, at least one community, the village of Rye Brook, has begun drafting legislation regulating the operation of gun stores within a certain proximity to schools.
The county proposal has already proven divisive in both the Legislature and amongst residents countywide who filled the legislative chambers in White Plains on Monday to show their support and objections to a potential ban.
While Democratic lawmakers have characterized gun shows at the County Center as a liability and potential gateway for illegal “straw sales”—purchasers who pose as the actual owner of firearms—Republicans have called any such ban unconstitutional and ultimately ineffective in curbing illegal sales.
Republicans have also introduced their own legislation regulating gun shows which would adopt a set of rules outlined by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman through proposed local laws.
Among other items, the rules would codify procedures on proper signage regarding background checks as well as proper procedure for federally licensed firearm dealers.
Which agency would be responsible for enforcement, according to Sgamatto, remains to be seen.
The Rev. Troy Decohen of Mount Vernon Heights Congregation, who also took part in a candlelight vigil for victims of gun violence held outside the legislative chambers on Monday, echoed Democratic sentiments.
“They claim that [the guns] get into the hands of only good people; people that are trying to do right,” Decohen said on Monday. “If one gun gets out from the gun show, it’s one gun too much; if one gets into the hands of the wrong person, it’s one too much.”
On the other side of the aisle, residents like Scott Sommavilla, president of the Westchester Gun Owners Association, feel the ban, and rhetoric surrounding it, paints an unfair picture of how gun purchases in the county, and statewide, work.
“You can’t just come in buy a gun and go home with it,” Sommavilla said.
Because of requirements, like those outlined by the New York State Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement, SAFE, Act, Sommavilla said straw sales would be highly unlikely.
“No one goes out into the parking lot and sells a gun,” he said, referencing strict licensing and serial number requirements. “If that gun is used in a crime, it’s coming back to you.”
George Longworth, commissioner of county Public Safety, said at a joint Board of Legislators committee meeting last week that there are no recorded illegal gun sales that have been directly attributed to the gun shows recorded.
Public hearings on the proposed rules are set to be held at the Westchester County Center’s Little Theater on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. Speakers may sign up to give their input starting at 6:15 p.m.
Ned McCormack, communications director for the county executive, could not be reached for comment as of press time.
