Transcripts from Tyrants #2: Thomas J. Abinanti - Wants Gun Owners Names Published

This is second in a series of posts documenting the "debate" that occurred over the passage of the BY SAFE act.  This video is from the Honorable Thomas J. Abinanti, one of the SAFE act supporters.  In it, he describes his views on gun owner privacy and completely misses the point, in my opinion.

Video #2: Thomas J. Abinanti, Westchester County, NY

Begin Transcript:

You know there are some other problems with this, Mr. Speaker as well.  Um, some people interpret the 2nd Amendment, which is, uh, which they claim protects their right to, uh, to uh, to be armed.  They also believes it gives them the right to secrecy.  Uh, a newspaper in Westchester County actually revealed, put on-line, the list of all, the legal gun owners in Westchester County.  And they got excoriated for it!

Because somehow, the mantra of the NRA, that your home is safer if you have a gun and it will deter somebody to come rob your house if they know you have a gun, now all of a sudden that doesn't matter any more!  Now all of a sudden you have a right to secrecy.

What's going on?

What's really going on is people believe, somehow, that the 2nd Amendment is going to protect them from some excess of government out there.  That this government is going to come in and lock them up.  And they need to be armed.

Well Mr. Speaker, I prefer to use the power, not of the 2nd Amendment, but of the 1st Amendment.  I believe freedom of the press and freedom of speech is the true champion and the true protector of democracy.  And to say to the newspapers that they can't publish information that the public wants to know, I think is the true violation of our Constitution.

This bill contains restrictions which I think are intolerable.  But I am going to vote for it because this is a compromise.  I believe the newspapers should be able to list all of the people who have guns.

End Transcript.

Mr. Abinanti feels it is "intolerable" (his word) to not allow the press complete freedom to paint scarlet letters, metaphorically speaking, on gun owners and out them like some type of shameful deviants.  I wonder if his desired provisions would include exceptions for law enforcement, judges and important people or would be lump them in with women who have orders of protection from stalkers and abusers, people under threat of death for testifying or victimized women trying to hide from their rapists?

It is apparent in my listening to his voice that he considers gun owners equal to any criminal who needs to be registered and tracked and for their neighbors to know what type of person lives next door.

Was this the representation you voted for, Westchester County?

D.K.