By Mike Benard 

Dave Kaplan's accurate description of challenges in obtaining a pistol permit (permit to own, really) in New York City illustrates why citizens in every state must stand watch against the massive assault underway on constitutional liberties like the Second Amendment (not to mention 4th, 5th, 6th and 14th amendments). Buying Your New York City Gun Rights, by Dave Kaplan, American Handgunner, March/April 2016. 

Do not sigh in relief because you don't live here. The anti-rights folks are not just coming for firearms in New York State -- or California, or Maryland, or Connecticut. While Donald Trump brandishes his New York City carry permit to cheering crowds, few realize that celebrities like Trump and Robert DeNiro will get their carry permits -- unlike the average citizen. 

As a resident of New York State for 30 years, I can testify that the broader situation is even worse than the specifics Mr. Kaplan cites about New York City. Firearms confiscation has already begun in New York State -- with no due process permitted. We are now in the third year of Governor Cuomo's SAFE Act which was rammed through the legislature overnight (via a "message of necessity" device) with no public hearings or public participation permitted. SAFE stands for Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013; and it politically redefines hundreds of semi-auto firearms (rifles, handguns, shotguns) as "assault weapons" using what lawyers call a "one feature" test. So if a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine has a thumb-hole stock (passing the one feature test!) --presto, it is now an "assault weapon." unbelievable.

 "Grandfather Claws" 

If you registered your "assault" firearm with the New York State Police as required by the SAFE Act, you can legally keep it until your death, when your property must be turned over to the state. It cannot be passed on to family. And while state authorities are in your house to confiscate the registered "assault" firearms, they want a written inventory of all firearms owned by the deceased. 

Additional provisions of the so-called SAFE Act (we call it unSAFE) only get worse. As State Police information systems evolve, it will require background checks on every ammunition purchase (registration by a different name). By 2018, all holders of a New York State pistol permit must be re-certified. For those of us who live here, we suspect that means more restrictions and probable revocation of some number of permits to own handguns. 

Remember, New York State requires a permit to own a handgun. Forget what you think you know about "carry" permits. If you do not have what is usually referred to as a pistol permit, you cannot legally possess a handgun in New York State -- period. It doesn't matter if you promise never to take it out of your house. You cannot purchase or own a handgun without this permit. And every handgun you buy is listed on your permit. 

The law also intrudes on mental health privacy, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union; and it violates federal HIPPA laws (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), according to the New York State Psychiatric Association. 

Why does this matter? These provisions of the unSAFE Act are the tools for firearms confiscation. My friends and I personally know of three people who have had their firearms confiscated. The police show up at the door, seize the firearms, and deliver the owner to a nearby hospital for two hours of "observation." There is no trial, no hearing, no right to confront accusers, no due process. In other words, it is a violation of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 1411, amendments. 

This is why the 2nd Amendment is about more than firearms. It is not a "single issue." It is the canary in the coal mine -- an early warning Firing Lines page 15 system that liberty is dying and it is not limited to 2nd Amendment freedom. Think of your constitutional rights as an ecological system -- a delicate balance -- an infringement on one freedom inevitably invites transgressions on others. 

Is this too much conspiracy theory for you? Read about the legal case of Donald Montgomery, a retired, decorated police detective and Navy veteran, who had his firearms confiscated at the insistence of New York State Police after he voluntarily sought treatment for insomnia. Reference link: American Thinker --http:// www.americanthinker.com/ blog/2015/01/ guns_ confiscated _after _man_seeks _in somnia_treatment.html  Mr. Montgomery is now suing to recover his constitutional rights. As his lawsuit against Governor Cuomo makes clear: New York State has "amassed the confidential, personal health information of tens of thousands of people into a database shared by various State agencies." 

In addition, news accounts report that police in Buffalo, NY, track obituaries against pistol permit holders in order to confiscate firearms. If the surviving spouse does not also have a permit to own handguns in the state of New York, he or she cannot keep those firearms. 

Membership is  Not Enough 

"Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for" all of us. Unfortunately, not enough of us are doing what needs to be done. I am a Life Member of the National Rifle Association, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association and SCOPE -- Shooters Committee On Political Education. All three organizations are vital, but so is our own skin-in -the game. For example, SCOPE is a true grassroots organization focused on the ground game in New York State. Among other goals, it is actively engaged in getting out the vote; and here is the great conundrum as we hear the toll of the bell: Voter participation is trending in the wrong direction. Out of 15 million eligible voters in New York State, less than one third vote; and participation in 2014 was lower than 2010. What is the voter participation in your state? I and SCOPE colleagues have helped individuals fill out voter registration forms; talked to audiences across multiple counties to energize the vote; and lobbied legislators. Should Liberty Depend on Conduct of the Lawless? 

If citizens opt out of their right to vote, our liberty depends on an ever-shrinking pool of active voters. As that voter pool shrinks, so do our liberties. The result is more laws like the unSAFE Act -- and less freedom. A friend-of-the-court brief submitted in opposition to Mr. Cuomo's SAFE Act says it well. It was filed by the Pink Pistols, the national organization of gay and lesbian firearms owners who support the Second Amendment. It states ( emphasis added): "But to ban firearms because criminals use them is to tell law-abiding citizens that their liberties depend not on their own conduct, but on the conduct of the lawless .... " 

In a positive way, our freedom does depend on our conduct: Join a 2nd Amendment Rights organization, but do more than be a member. Register to vote and/or help others to register -- then vote and get family, friends and neighbors to vote. Get involved in the political ground game -- meet with local and state legislators; support primary challenges; be visible, be vocal. 

Take the initiative, don't wait for the order. In other words, take the initiative where your freedom is concerned. Don't wait for the restrictive order from government.