I hope this email finds you well and enjoying fall foliage. 

I 'd like to remind you that the election is almost here.  In 11 days, on Tuesday November 5, 2024, election day arrives.  However, early voting begins the day after tomorrow. 

Early voting in New York State runs from Saturday October 26, 2024 through Sunday November 3, 2024.  I encourage you to find out exactly where early voting occurs in your part of New York State because it may not be the same place you normally vote on election day. 
I encourage you to vote early and support the Second Amendment.  

Good Luck!
With All Honor and Respect,
John R. Elwood, SCOPE President

Indianapolis Indiana                           Criminal                                            Non-Criminal                                     Homicides                                        Homicides    2021                          249                                                     22       July 1 2022, Constitutional Carry went into effect 2022                          211                                                     15       2023                          171                                                     45       Could be a coincidence (or not a coincidence) that Criminal Homicides went down when people were better able to defend themselves WITH GUNS. I’m betting on ‘or not a coincidence.’ Pennsylvania Note: In 2021, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed Constitutional Carry but Governor Tom Wolfe vetoed it. There are other issues in Pennsylvania which may eventually leak over its northern border into NY. A Pennsylvania law bans 18 to 20-year-old citizens from openly carrying firearms. The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) claimed that the law violates the U S Constitution because it disarms part of “the people.” In October 2020, the lawsuit, Lara v. Paris, originally filed. At the time, states could rely on the concept of ‘interest balancing’ to defend their laws. As you probably know, these trials take forever to go through the trial and the appeals process. In 2022, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Bruen. Pennsylvania could no longer use ‘interest balancing’ to defend its law against constitutional scrutiny. The court could only use the original text, tradition, and history of the Second Amendment. In January 2024, the Third Circuit found Pennsylvania’s law unconstitutional. In March 2024, an appeal to the 3rd Circuit was denied. In April 2024, Pennsylvania was enjoined from enforcing the law. Pennsylvania appealed to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) On October 15th, SCOTUS vacated the lower court’s decision, and remanded the case back to the Third Circuit for “consideration in light of United States v. Rahimi.” This means the law is still alive, for now. Rahimi said that a citizen could be temporarily disarmed if they posed a threat to public safety. Do 18 to 20-year-olds, as a group - and not as individuals - pose an unusually high risk to public safety?  Applying laws to a group instead of an individual is a very risky limb to crawl out on.  However, accusing groups is currently in vogue: white men are accused of being racist just because they are white; MAGA, as a group, are accused of being fascist.    Pennsylvania will probably argue that the human brain isn’t fully developed until age 25, which leads to bad judgement and risky behavior.  But that argument opens the door to a host of related issues involving age restrictions that few would want to get into.     Street Takeovers Street takeovers by protestors / criminals / thugs are in vogue.  Streets are completely shut down, motorists are accosted and police are generally overwhelmed and helpless. Ammoland warns: “When stalled by a violent riot, stationary vehicles are death traps…your only safety lies in motion! So long as you’re moving, escape from criminal violence is possible.” Ammoland did not mention another possible action; be carrying. Should Trump win the election, it will serve as an excuse for these “mostly peaceful takeovers” to increase in numbers.  You have been warned!       On Another Issue

Columbus Versus Indigenous Peoples

The Left wants to eliminate everything they don’t like; such as guns and Columbus Day.  Columbus offends them because he was involved with slavery.  Instead, the Left wants to honor Indigenous Peoples.  It’s appropriate that Democrats want to honor Indigenous Peoples as Indigenous Peoples’ history parallels the Democrat Party’s history of slavery.

Did you know that the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery did not apply to all slaves?  The “Five Civilized Tribes” of the southeast - Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole - also participated in the institution of slavery.  Because these tribes were located outside the sovereignty of the United States, constitutional amendments did not apply to them.  (Kinda like Kathy Hochul, who doesn’t believe the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution applies to New York State.)

According to journalist Aliana E. Roberts, by 1800, the “Five Tribes” had developed “plantations that rivaled those of their white neighbors.”  She also notes that the percentage of black slaves in the population was significant.  In 1860:

• Cherokee Nation citizens owned 2,511 slaves (15 percent of their total population),

• Choctaw citizens owned 2,349 slaves (14 percent of their total population), and

• Creek citizens owned 1,532 slaves (10 percent of their total population).

• Chickasaw citizens owned 975 slaves, which amounted to 18 percent of their total population.

These were proportions equivalent to that of white slave owners in Tennessee, a large slaveholding state.

Most other North American tribes also practiced some form of slavery, even before Columbus.  (Wait a minute – Columbus didn’t introduce slavery to America?  If that’s so, could the 1619 Project also be wrong?)

In The Birth of America, William Polk writes: “Indian societies were frequently at war with one another…booty consisted in part of slaves.  Slavery was as common in the New World as among Africans and Europeans. Practices were equally cruel.”

Close to home here in NY State, the Mohawks would eat their captives, which is usually referred to as cannibalism.

A special “shout out” on Indigenous Peoples Day should go to the Aztecs.

The Aztecs had religious festivities at the end of their 20-day months and human sacrifice was an essential feature of these festivities.  (And you thought giving up something for Lent was hard.)

Human sacrifice also was part of the legend around the founding of the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan, which was accompanied by the sacrifice and skinning of the daughter of the King Coxcox of Culhuacan.  (By contrast, Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton decided on the current site of Washington D.C. over dinner and a bottle of wine.)

Another aspect of Aztec human sacrifice was children who were made to cry before the sacrifice. The tears were thought to wet the earth and thus appease the gods. If a child did not cry, the priests would sometimes tear out the nails of the child to make him or her cry.

The Aztec practice of human sacrifice also served a political purpose.  The Aztecs were small in number compared to the other subjugated tribes and, thus, there was always a danger of an alliance between these tribes against the Aztecs.  To avert this, Aztecs demanded humans as a tribute from the subjugated tribes.  As a result, these tribes would constantly raid each other to procure humans for sacrifice. This minimized or eliminated the chance of an alliance between the tribes.  (Sounds like the current effort to keep the Left in power by dividing people over race and gender issues.)

In 1487, five years before Columbus discovered America, “Templo Mayor” was dedicated in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, with a four-day celebration. How many were sacrificed during that time is a subject of scholarly speculation with the lowest estimate at 4,000. 

It is hard to know how many Aztecs died under the sacrificial knife. Many reputable scholars today put the number between 20,000 and 250,000 per year for the whole Aztec Empire.  (Hitler, Mao and Stalin would have been proud of the Aztecs.)

Indigenous People Day would not be complete without mentioning the Incas of Peru.  Although a little less bloodthirsty than Aztecs, the Incas had enslaved other indigenous people along the Andes.

Human sacrifices were practiced by the Incas to ward off danger, famine or an epidemic. The victims were usually children, sometimes men and virgins.  (Apparently, virgins have been sacrificial favorites, everywhere.) 

More recently, archaeologists have discovered a site in northern Peru of mass child sacrifice. About 550 years ago, over 140 children were probably sacrificed on a site known as Huanchaquito-Las Llamas.  Later, the number of sacrificed children’s remains found rose to 269, with the discovery of another nearby site. 

An interesting aspect of the Inca Empire is described in the book “A Socialist Empire: The Incas of Peru” by Louis Baudin.  (The Incas would make Stalin, Mao and Fidel proud.)  Baudin writes that the regime imposed by the Inca rulers on the indigenous populations they had enslaved was a precursor of Marxist-style socialism.  Private property and individual initiative were prohibited.  Money and commerce did not exist.  Private life was subject to tough state regulation: people had to dress in a similar way; marriage was allowed only following the eugenic laws of the state, to avoid “racial contamination”.  Like any tyrannical system of this type, it was oppressive and didn’t work, so much so that the subjugated indigenous peoples enthusiastically helped the few Spaniards who came to get rid of it.  (Sounds like the Incas deserve the Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood award for eugenics.) 

So, the Aztecs and Incas enslaved other indigenous peoples.   Well, at least they weren’t racists.          

It’s lucky for those Indigenous Peoples that they weren’t “White European Heritage Peoples” or the ‘Woke’ would demand that they lose their new holiday because they practiced slavery.  To be fair, just about every people have practiced slavery; European, Asian, African and indigenous American. 

If the holiday had to be renamed, again, the “woke” would demand that it honor someone who did not practice slavery or cannibalism; that, of course, would eliminate just about every race and country in the history of the world. 

But if you wanted to name it for someone who did not practice human sacrifice or cannibalism, Christopher Columbus is available.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is…

SCOPE (and many others) often point out the double standard of the anti-2A’s.  For instance: anti-2Aers want to disarm citizens and make citizens unable to defend themselves while the anti-2Aers enjoy the protection of people with guns.

Kamala Harris has led that effort, which plays well in her home state of California, which is also heavily anti-2A.

Kostas Moros, an attorney representing the California Rifle & Pistol Association, posted this on X: "…California law classifies ALL Glocks as 'unsafe handguns' because they do not have a compliant chamber load indicator, lack a magazine disconnect mechanism, and until our lawsuit caused California to repeal the requirement, of course lacked microstamping," (Emphasis added.)

"The only reason we can still buy Gen 3s is because they are grandfathered in, but they are still 'unsafe handguns…We can't buy more modern Glocks new in gun stores (just secondhand from exempt cops, or from those who moved here with them from other states).”

Kamala Harris supported the Unsafe Handgun Act.

Guess what gun Harris owns? 

During her 60 Minutes interview, Harris stated that she owns a Glock.

Harris owns an 'unsafe handgun'?

As the former district attorney of San Francisco, which is a law enforcement position, she would have legally been allowed to purchase and own an "unsafe handgun."  But if it is ’unsafe,’ why is law enforcement allowed to use an ‘unsafe’ handgun? 

Harris was attorney general of California in 2013 when the Justice Department authorized the state to institute a 2007 law requiring new models of handguns to be micro-stamped. In 2023, the California legislature passed a law banning the sale of any handgun that isn't "microstamping-enabled".  (Since repealed.)

Is Harris Glock micro-stamped? Even if not the law, doesn’t she still believe in microstamping?

Whether you are pro or anti-abortion, it is interesting to read the reasoning behind some rulings and how they have ‘aged’ when applied to other issues, like defending the 2nd Amendment.

Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey were the two cases, at the federal level, that allowed abortion.

The plurality in Casey – Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, and David Souter – believed that the public “should never conclude that its constitutional protections hung by a thread — that a new majority … could ‘by dint of numbers’ alone expunge their rights.” (Emphasis added.)

These words are worth repeating: “a new majority … could ‘by dint of numbers’ alone expunge their rights.”

The current majority of the Supreme Court proved that they will defend our 2nd Amendment rights in NYSRPA v Bruen. 

What is the reaction of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and many Democrats?  They wanted to add new members to the Supreme Court, nominated by (anti-2A) Biden, so they would then have a ‘new majority” which could ”by dint of numbers alone expunge their rights.’

It should be noted that Biden and Harris are big defenders of abortion but apparently these two lawyers have not read the reasoning behind these decisions.  Or if they have, they don’t believe the basic rationale should be applied to issues they don’t like.

Kind of like they only believe our 1st and 2nd Amendment protected rights don’t apply to issues they don’ like.

I wonder how they will feel about ‘packing’ the Supreme Court if Trump is elected President?  Would they also do a flip-flop?

Another Anti-2A Group (Ammoland)

Five of the country’s top anti-gun groups launched a new organization comprised of state lawmakers, which will focus on changing state gun laws. Legislators for Safer Communities consists of Brady, Community Justice, Everytown for Gun Safety, GIFFORDS, and March for Our Lives.

Initially, the coalition consists of 171 state lawmakers from 43 states.  (That’s only 4 per state!)

In their words, the group wants to circumvent the “congressional stalemate” on gun-control legislation by focusing on changing state laws.

(Their definition of a ‘stalemate’ is that the 2nd Amendment is still the law of the land.)

Legislators for Safer Communities claims to be independent and nonpartisan, but the six Co-chairs and the twenty-eight Steering Committee members, named on its one-page website…drumroll please…are all Democrats.

Knowing that the group is being led by Democrats, you will not be shocked to learn that the one paragraph description of their purpose echoes as many Democrat talking points as they could squeeze into one paragraph: “a public health issue;” “systemic inequalities”; “equity and justice; etc.”

However, they were unable to link gun control and abortion.

Tanya Schardt, Brady’s senior counsel and senior policy director, said in a press release they want: “to save lives through common sense and evidence-based policies.” 

(You can bet those “evidence-based policies” will be peer reviewed by peers paid by Brady, Community Justice, Everytown for Gun Safety, GIFFORDS, and March for Our Lives.)

There is no contact phone number and only a digital contact form.

It is not listed on GuideStar or other charity navigators.

The site offers no information about the group’s funding, but the five anti-2A groups listed have deep pockets.

While this group will be focusing on laws at the state level, New York shouldn’t be concerned since we couldn’t possibly have any more restrictive laws than we already have.  Could we?  Not possible?  Say it aint so?

Well, just in case it is possible, the best prevention is voting.  Which is satisfying, knowing that you can offset the millions spent on anti-2A efforts simply by voting – at no cost to you.

Public Land Closure

The following is a press release from NSSF concerning the closure of public lands which will take away recreational shooter opportunities.  (Emphasis has been added.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, strongly opposes Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s proposed plan for the Department of the Interior to shutter access to recreational shooting on 1.3 million acres of the Bears Ears National Monument, in Utah. Today’s announcement will needlessly deny recreational target shooters access to the monument for no legally justifiable purpose and will violate federal law.

“Secretary Haaland’s proposed plan to close access to 1.3 million acres for recreational shooting is a violation of federal law,” said Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and Chief Executive Officer. “Public lands must be made available for all the public to use. Federal law explicitly states that when closures of public lands are necessary, they must be limited in area and duration to achieve a specific stated objective. Secretary Haaland has articulated none of the required criteria, as required by law. The Secretary should rescind or drastically modify this misguided policy and apply the law as intended: to benefit the public.”

The John D. Dingell, Jr., Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act [4], which was signed into law in 2019, sets the criteria upon which the Secretary of the Department of the Interior may close public access to public lands. The law limits the area and duration for when public access to federal lands may be closed. Closures may only occur when a clear and quantifiable objective is identified. Secretary Haaland’s announcement to close 1.3 million acres to Bears Ears National Monument fails to meet these requirements.

The Dingell Act states that federal lands will remain open to hunting, fishing and recreational shooting in accordance with applicable law. That is, unless the Secretary establishes that a specific area must be closed for one or more particular reasons, including public safety, administration or compliance with applicable laws. If that is to occur, the Secretary must limit the closure to the smallest area necessary and for the shortest amount of time to achieve the stated purpose.

None of these criteria were met before Secretary Haaland announced that public access will be denied to countless recreational shooters who, since the land is public, own those lands. The announcement will deny access in a manner detrimental to conservation funding. What is most appalling is that this punitive political action is occurring despite the absence of any indication that recreational shooters pose an any viable threat to the monument’s cultural, historic or natural resources.

“NSSF is deeply troubled by this blatant violation of the law to close off access to 1.3 million acres of public land,” Bartozzi added. “This unlawful closure demonstrates that the Biden-Harris administration and Secretary Haaland are openly hostile to the interests of America’s sportsmen and women. This action clearly shows utter disdain for the rule of law. NSSF will protest this proposal and will work with the Bureau of Land Management to ensure future shooting opportunities in the Monument remain available to recreational target shooters.”

NSSF encourages all Americans who enjoy access to public lands to comment on this proposal and to make their voices heard.

What part of Compulsory and Mandatory Don’t You Understand?

Kamala Harris in her own words, (from the Schuyler County S.C.O.P.E. Legal Update for October, 2024.)

Harris-led office, ATF stonewalling probe into ‘collusion’ with anti-gun group lawsuit:

House Oversight chair Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning on what she characterizes as a record of a tough former prosecutor. But a White House office she has “overseen” may have focused less on gun crimes and more on targeting a legal gun manufacturer.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee says the Biden-Harris administration is stonewalling an investigation into potential “collusion” with a gun control group founded by billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to boost Chicago’s lawsuit against Glock Inc.

Since June, neither the White House nor the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, better known as the ATF, has responded to multiple inquiries from the committee.

The ATF missed its most recent deadline to respond to the committee on Wednesday, Aug. 28.

The committee has been investigating the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention’s communications with the Everytown for Gun Safety regarding a lawsuit by the city of Chicago against Glock, a firearms manufacturer.

Chicago sued Glock in Cook County Circuit Court, attempting to restrict alterations that can happen with the guns after they are sold. The illegal alterations happened after the sale of the guns, but the plaintiff contends the company willfully sold pistols that can be converted into fully automatic weapons. Criminals use a piece called an auto sear to convert the weapon. The lawsuit asserts that Glock turned a blind eye to the alterations that criminals make.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-led-office-atf-stonewalling-probe-collusion-anti-gun-group-lawsuit-house-oversight-chair

Kamala for Gun Confiscation: In Her Own Words

Here is Harris supporting gun confiscation, in her own words:

At a September 2019 campaign event, Harris told reporters that confiscating commonly owned semi-automatic firearms was “a good idea.” Elaborating on her support for a compulsory “buyback” program, Harris added, “We have to work out the details -- there are a lot of details -- but I do…We have to take those guns off the streets.” (Emphasis added.)

On the September 16, 2019 episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Harris reiterated her support for gun confiscation. During a question-and-answer session, an audience member asked Harris “Do you believe in the mandatory buyback of quote unquote assault weapons and whether or not you do, how does that idea not go against fundamentally the Second Amendment?” The candidate responded, “I do believe that we need to do buybacks.” Making clear that she believes Americans’ Second Amendment rights are for sale, Harris added “A buyback program is a good idea. Now we need to do it the right way. And part of that has to e, you know, buy back and…”  (Emphasis added.)

On October 2, 2019, Harris called for gun confiscation during an MSNBC “gun safety forum.” During the event, Harris had the following exchange with MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin. “We have to have a buyback program and I support a mandatory buyback program. It’s got to be smart, we got to do it the right way, but there are 5 million at least some estimate as many as 10 million and we’re going to have to have smart public policy that’s about taking those off the streets.” (Emphasis added.)

On October 31, 2019, Harris called for gun confiscation at a public television candidates forum in Ankeny, Iowa. Responding to a question about gun control, Harris answered, “I support buybacks.” The forum moderator then asked Harris, “How mandatory is your gun buyback program?” Harris made clear, “It’s mandatory.” (Emphasis added.)

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20240916/kamala-for-gun-confiscation-in-her-own-words

Kamala Harris’s Previous Support for a Ban on Handguns Highlights the Gun-Control Movement’s Broader Aims

Vice President Kamala Harris supported a 2005 ballot measure that banned San Francisco residents from possessing pistols.

The Democratic presidential nominee backed Proposition H in her role as the city’s District Attorney at the time. The measure banned San Francisco residents from buying, selling, or even possessing handguns. With exceptions included for active-duty law enforcement, military, and licensed security guards, 58 percent voted in favor of the measure. But it faced immediate legal scrutiny from the National Rifle Association (NRA), California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), and other gun-rights groups.

“San Francisco was a leader in proposing gun restrictions at the local level, and she never met a gun control law she didn’t like,” Chuck Michel, who represented the NRA and CRPA in its fight against the city, told The Reload. “Prop H was the crowning jewel.”

Harris broke with other prominent gun-control advocates in backing the ban and confiscation measure… the aim isn’t to prohibit only one sort of gun but to limit gun ownership wherever it can be found. In 2006, Harris thought she could get a ban on handguns, so she went for a ban on handguns. In 2024, she thinks she can get a ban on certain rifles, so she’s going for a ban on certain rifles. The distinctions drawn in defense of the campaign are what they have to be at any moment, but the aim remains the same.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/kamala-harris-previous-support-for-a-ban-on-handgunshighlights-the-gun-control-movements-broader-aims/

Westchester County

Leftist politicians like Kamala Harris and Joe Biden continually say they are not going to take away your guns.  But what happens when they have control of the government and we can’t legally stop them?

On September 15, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill (S4879) allowing Westchester County to change its handgun and semi-automatic rifle licensing fees.

Outside of the counties that make up NY City, Westchester County has the largest Democrat majority of any county in New York State; there are 284 thousand more registered Democrats than Republicans. 

This imbalance is reflected in the Westchester County Board of Legislators which has seventeen (17) legislators: one (1) is Republican and one (1) is Conservative and fifteen (15) Democrats.

Currently, the fee for an application or renewal for a pistol or semi-automatic rifle license in Westchester County is $10. Westchester County is looking to raise the cost of the license to $175!   

The proposed fee to amend a restriction on a license will increase from $3 to $125.

Any other amendments will go up from $3 to $25.

Westchester says the increase will pay the salaries of various county employees, but they are not adding new employees to administer this increase.  The county’s current budget already covers the wages for the existing workers.   

Critics of the increase point out that no other county fees are increasing, just pistol and semi-automatic rifle license fees. The critics allege that the new fees are nothing more than a “poll tax” on the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.  (Ya think!)

Only two legislators, Margaret Cunzio (C) and James Nolan (R), have vowed to vote “no” on the proposal. The 15 Democrat legislators have not stated how they will vote.

To all those gun owners, and especially to hunters, who don’t want to get involved or vote because they believe the Democrats are not coming for their guns…guess what?

To Vote Or Not To Vote—There Really Isn’t Any Question by Tracy Marisa

Suggesting to SCOPE members that they turn out to vote in the general election is preaching to the choir.  That’s true; at least I hope it is.

But a famous writer said several decades ago that “in a sort of ghastly simplicity” we humans tend to “…remove the organ and demand the function...We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” In other words, and in our American instance, given how little emphasis there has been on civic engagement in those same decades, it would not be surprising if our voting muscles have atrophied. 

Whether you need some encouragement yourself to get out and vote or whether you would never miss an opportunity to vote but you know people who would have to be dragged to a polling place kicking and screaming, it may be worth spending a few minutes looking at some of the reasons why folks don’t turn out to vote in November and what the rest of us can do about it.

One reason for not voting is that voting requires some planning ahead.

You can’t vote if you are not registered.

This year the deadline for registering to vote is October 26th.

Keep in mind that if you’ve changed your address, you need to re-register to vote. You can register online at https://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html. 

For those who have access to a printer, it would be a kindness to your unregistered friends and neighbors, who might not have internet access, if you printed a few of the forms that are available on that same webpage and had them handy for them to fill out.  (See the menu at the top of the page to find the link to the printable registration form.)

A SCOPE e-mail that went out on September 9th that was written by Stephen Dallas (thank you!) had a lot of helpful info which might have seemed very early at the time but now looks increasingly urgent. So, I’m reiterating much of it at the end of this email as well as listing these important deadlines and dates*.

Another excuse reason I’ve personally heard gun owners give for not registering to vote is that they don’t want to be called to be on a jury.

First…folks, we need people to sit on juries who know that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights have not been tossed out the window! There are more than enough of the other sort of potential jurors out there, and we don’t need to cede more territory to the other side, in court, by simply not being there.

Secondly, these are the ways NYS puts together its list of potential jurors (from the state website): “Potential jurors are randomly selected from lists of registered voters, holders of drivers’ licenses or ID’s issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles, New York State income tax filers, recipients of unemployment insurance or family assistance, and from volunteers.”

Not registering to vote is NOT going to “save” someone from their civic duty of sitting on a jury. People should register to vote and then perform another one of the relatively few civic duties we actually have—turn out and vote.

A third reason is the feeling that their vote doesn’t count

As we know, 2024 is a presidential election year and while that generates a lot of interest, in NYS it may also lead people to the feeling that their vote doesn’t count. If you know about the Electoral College and how that system works (and why it exists), that feeling is not without merit. But that only applies to the presidential election. All other lines on the ballot are totally up for grabs and the winner will be the candidate who can get the greatest number of people to turn out and vote for him or her. (In the interests of encouraging turnout, the county board of elections where I used to live put together a list of local elections that had been won by very few votes, usually a half-dozen or fewer and in some cases only one vote. It happens more often than you think.)

Which leads us to a list of reasons why your vote will count

For those elections that are literally closest to where you live—town, village, city, county—people’s individual votes absolutely do matter. Some of those people running for local office are on the same page that we’re on (re: the Second Amendment) and some are definitely not. You want to know which are which.

This year, offices that are up for grabs in addition to POTUS/VP are:

 U.S. Senator (Gillibrand is up this year, but not Schumer, and her opponent, as you know, is Mike Sapraicone – who just spoke at the SCOPE Banquet);

U.S. Member of Congress, State Senator, State Assemblymember, with those three varying with your specific location in NYS;

There may be other, more local offices, on the front of the ballot;

The reverse will have Proposal 1 statewide (known by many as the Parent Replacement Act) and there may be other propositions on the reverse as well, specific to the voter’s election district.

This seems like a lot to keep track of.  But there really is no reason, anymore, why people shouldn’t already know whose name will appear on various lines—town council, village mayor, district attorney, judge, sheriff, county legislator, whatever—before they ever cross the threshold of their polling place.  By the time early voting starts, county boards of elections often publish sample ballots online that represent exactly the ballots that voters will be handed at their individual polling places. Any counties that don’t put up a PDF of election district ballots will still have a list of all the offices and proposals that are due to appear on county ballots.

While voting might have seemed like a mysterious black box in the past and we could use that very inscrutability as an excuse for not voting (or voting ignorantly), that is no longer the case. And this is yet another way that people with internet access can help those without.

And vote next Spring, too

This last thing is not directly related to the November election, but it does have to do with civic responsibility generally as well as voting, in particular.

I often hear people who bemoan the political thinking of younger Americans.  They ascribe the young people’s disregard for the Constitution and Bill of Rights to their having been to college. While many colleges and universities certainly share in the blame for this, they’re not the sole source of the problem (and there are plenty of people who haven’t been to college and are quite left-leaning, so the college theory doesn’t explain everything).

Find out what’s going on in your local K-12 schools when it comes to teaching about the U.S.A. and our history.  And then make sure you vote in your local school elections in the spring, generally in May. Those elections aren’t just about tax rates and tax levies, although those are important, but they are also about how exactly the money is being spent and, perhaps most important of all, who sits on the school board. You can have a direct impact on what’s going on in your local schools, and thus in young people’s attitudes, but one thing you have to do is vote.

Back to November 5th

Please vote, and encourage your friends, neighbors, and family members to vote. Pick them up and buy them a coffee or a soda if that helps grease the wheels a little. We can change things but we have to use the weapon at our disposal and not leave it holstered — voting.

75% of life is just showing up.

*Courtesy of Mr. Dallas:
(Location of poll site is determined by resident address.) Once you’re registered to vote, you can find your polling place for General Election Day, November 5th, by going to https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/ or on your county BOE website. You can only vote at your polling place—you can’t just wander in anywhere, even if you think that’s the way it should be. There are wandering wannabe voters who assume they can vote in any location labeled “polling place”—

Early Voting by Mail / Absentee Voting for General Election:

October 26 - Last day for board of elections to receive applications by mail or by online portal for an absentee ballot for the General Election .

November 4 - Last day to apply in person for absentee ballot for the General Election.

November 5 - Last day to postmark an absentee ballot for the General Election. (It must be received at the Board of Elections no later than November 14th, Military Ballots by November 20th.)

November 5 - Last day to deliver in person an absentee ballot for the General Election to the County Board or Poll Site, by the close of polls.

General Election Dates:

October 26 through November 3- Early voting days for General Election.

November 5 - General Election - 6 am to 9 pm.

(ask me how I know).

What about these other ways of voting (besides at your designated polling place on November 5th)?

“Mail-in and absentee ballots: A New York law allowing all registered voters to cast their ballots by mail was upheld in August by the state’s highest court. The decision means that the millions of New Yorkers eligible to vote in the November 5 election will be able to cast ballots by mail if they wish — something that only a handful of people could do before.

This means any registered New York voter may apply for a mail-in ballot.

They can apply either online (https://elections.ny.gov/request-ballot), or in person at their local election office, or by designating another person to deliver their application to the local election office for them.

Mail-in ballot applications are due 10 days before the election. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day or submitted in person by 9pm on Election Day to the County Board of Elections Office or polling site.

Certain New Yorkers are eligible to apply for an absentee ballot. The form to apply is different than, but the places to apply are the same as, for mail-in ballots, and the ballot can be returned using the same methods as early mail voters.

Early voting: You can also vote in-person via early voting. Early voting is just like voting on Election Day. Early voters privately mark and scan their ballot at a polling place. Early voting results are counted, tabulated and included in election night totals. There is no requirement to apply for early voting. The process is completely walk-in.

Early voting for the general election is Saturday, October 26 through Sunday, November 3. Voters may visit any of their assigned Early Voting Centers in their county, except in New York City, where voters are assigned to one early voting site. To find each county’s early voting locations, click here: https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

Early voting may be an especially attractive process in upstate New York, where even early November weather can be unpredictable, and voters may have difficulty making it to the polls on Election Day. Early voting can also be a guard against other unexpected events that might arise on Election Day, from family obligations to workplace emergencies.

Again, people with internet access and a printer can help out people who don’t have those things.

Immigration Analysis

According to the report from the Deputy Director of ICE Patrick Lechleitner sent to Congressman Tony Gonzalez, these are illegal immigrants who have been caught and released with court dates set years into the future, or, worse, those ordered deported but still residing within our borders.