Some good info
I've done some research to get a better understanding of the NYS legislative process, in the hopes of being better informed and better able lto fight against legislation I oppose. I have found some good resources and information that I want to share with the New Yorkers here...
The following page provides an overview of the lawmaking process in NYS. It gives a good high level understanding of how bills move through the committees, get their readings, get voted on and eventually get signed into law:
Link Removed
This page is important:
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi
It has links to look up bills and proposals. Note that while the NYSRPA pdf document lists document numbers with dashes (i.e. A-76), this page requires you to search without the dashes (i.e. A76) - otherwise it will tell you "invalid bill number." This page also has links to see the Senate and Assemble calendars, both the floors and the committees.
Looking up a bill number gives you the most recent status of the bill, and its HISTORY! This is important. For example, the NYSRPA pdf document says that bill A-76 "Passed Assembly." But looking up the bill on this website reveals that the bill passed the Assembly before, and "died in Senate." So chances are it will die in Senate again. Here's the entire history of that particular bill:
Code:
STATUS:
A76-A Weisenberg (MS)
Penal Law
TITLE....Enacts the "children's weapon accident prevention act"
01/03/07 referred to codes
03/27/07 reported
03/28/07 advanced to third reading cal.166
04/25/07 passed assembly
04/25/07 delivered to senate
04/25/07 REFERRED TO CODES
01/09/08 DIED IN SENATE
01/09/08 RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
01/09/08 ordered to third reading cal.6
01/29/08 amended on third reading 76a
04/14/08 passed assembly
04/14/08 delivered to senate
04/14/08 REFERRED TO CODES
The bill search page also lets you fill in check boxes to reveal the bill's actual text, a summary, and the sponsor's memos. The memo is very interesting too. It provides the "justification" for the bill and reveals where they got their numbers and statistics to support the idea. This is a great source of data that we can use to debunk the shaky foundations of the anti-gunners. By pointing out the falacy of their data and shedding light on their skewed perspectives of the facts, we can promote truth and fact in these bills. The memo also reveals past versions of the bill. A76 for example, is a bill that the Assembly has been trying to get passed since 1993:
Code:
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
1993: A1598-A - Passed Assembly
1994: A40002 - Passed Assembly
1995: A1382 - Passed Assembly
1996: A1382 - Passed Assembly
1997: A651-A - Passed Assembly
1998: A.651-F - Passed Assembly
1999: A.1407-B - Passed Assembly
2000: A.1407-B - Passed Assembly
2001: A.5363-B - Passed Assembly
2002: A.5363-C - Passed Assembly
2004: A.4615-C - Passed Assembly
2005: A.673 - Passed Assembly
2006: A.673 - Passed Assembly
A lot probably happens in committee. As the text in the first link I gave you says - "The committee stage is the second point at which the citizen's contribution is important. An expression of opinion on a proposed bill can be sent directly to the committee chairman, or it can be sent to your local Senator for relay to the committee members." If you go to
New York State Legislature and click on either the senate or assembly committee agendas, you get a list of the committees. This list correlates to the "committee status" column in the NYSRPA pdf file. If you are concerned about a particular proposed piece of legislation, see what committee is considering it, then check out that committee's agenda.
For example, I might be concerned about A243, which the NYSRPA pdf file gives a committee status of "Codes 1/9/08" (a look at the bill's status shows that the bill was "referred to codes" on that date). If I click on the Assembly calendar (I can tell it is an Assembly bill and not a Senate bill because it starts with an A instead of an S), I can then see that the Codes committee meets again on 5/28/08. If I click on Codes, I see that the agenda includes discussion of 13 bills - none of which are 243. If it were on the agenda, I might write a letter to the chairman of that committee asking him to read my letter to the entire committee to consider a citizen's point of view on this particular bill.
OK, so - what to watch out for? In the pdf file from NYSRPA, I would be most concerned with items that say "passed Assembly" or "passed Senate." Check the status of these bills. It may be that it then dies in the other body, but it may also be that it passed the other body already. If it is passed the second body, then it gets sent to the Governor for signature. If it has passed one body, and been submitted to the other, then check the Floor Calendar to see when it will be voted on. Then immediately write your appropriate representative, depending on which body it is going to, and express your opposition.
I'm also going to go through the pdf file from NYSRPA and look for the bills that trouble me the most. For example, A2772-A bans .50 caliber and above and required the State Police to seek out and take away such weapons that are already lawfully owned. Here is the status of this bill:
Code:
STATUS:
A2772-A Eddington (MS)
Penal Law
TITLE....Bans the sale, use or possession of 50-caliber weapons
01/19/07 referred to codes
04/17/07 reported referred to ways and means
04/17/07 reported
04/19/07 advanced to third reading cal.215
04/25/07 passed assembly
04/25/07 delivered to senate
04/25/07 REFERRED TO CODES
01/09/08 DIED IN SENATE
01/09/08 RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
01/09/08 ordered to third reading cal.250
01/29/08 amended on third reading 2772a
04/14/08 passed assembly
04/14/08 delivered to senate
04/14/08 REFERRED TO CODES
I'm not sure how threatening this bill is since the Senate referred it back to the codes committee, but it did pass the Assembly. I fear this one could go from codes, back the Senate, and pass before we know it. So, I plan to write to the chairman of codes to express my concerns about this bill, and explain the fact that eliminating .50 caliber muzzle loaders from NYS will not reduce crime in any way shape or form. The sponsor says that .50 cal guns "...are used for long range tactical assassination..." The committee needs to know what ".50 caliber" really means and that this bill stomps all over the rights of muzzleloading sportsmen throughout NYS. So, I'll ask the committee to "star" this bill (see the first link I provided to learn what starrting a bill meanas). I'll also watch the status of this one to see where it goes next. If it goes to the Senate, you can bet I'll be asking for NO votes from anybody who will listen, in my district or not.
This is by no means an all inclusive set of resources and information to fight NYS anti-gun legislation, but I wanted to share what I have learned so far. I encourage others to comment, correct me, add to it, etc.