Sheriff Howard on SAFE Act: ‘I won’t enforce it’ - It’s no secret Sheriff Timothy B. Howard is opposed to New York’s new gun-control law. But Howard, who is running for re-election this year, is now ratcheting up his opposition by filing a friend of the court brief in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the SAFE Act and, even more important perhaps, by suggesting the law not be enforced. “I’m more than reluctant,” he said of the new law Thursday. “I won’t enforce it.” Howard, one of four sheriffs who joined in filing the brief this week, said he considers the law unconstitutional and a waste of valuable resources, and believes it will ultimately be overturned by the courts.

Putnam sheriff backs legal challenge gun control law - Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith, the immediate past president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, Tuesday said he supports the friend of the court brief filed in support of the lawsuit challenging the state’s SAFE Act. The association filed the brief in the case of New York State Rifle and Pistol Association against Governor Andrew Cuomo, which is in US District Court for the Western District of New York. Smith said the governor and state legislature “pushed the legislation through fast because they wanted it passed so badly, and unfortunately what resulted was bad law.”

Obama, Democrats Misfire on Guns - The owner of a small gun shop here sits on a wooden stool behind a glass-topped counter filled with handguns. The only thing folks talk about when they come into this store is what Washington will do next to attack gun owners, says the man, dressed in a crisp white shirt, dark blue pants and a ballcap from a local paint store. “The story that is not being told is how afraid folks really are,” he says, refusing to have his name published. He has lived through the turbulent '60s and '70s and served in Vietnam, he says, but none of that compares to the fear he sees in today's customers.

Legislative Report #7 is now available (pdf).

Spa City Commissioner Mathiesen seeks public hearing on gun resolution - Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen plans to set a public hearing on a resolution to require that all guns carried downtown be kept out of sight.  The proposed local ordinance stems from the January Saratoga Arms Fair that drew protests from both sides of the gun control debate.

Young Voters Aren't Sold on Gun Control - Young people have helped push the gay marriage issue to the forefront, with so many voters 30 and under supporting marriage equality that Republicans have been forced to accept – or at least re-examine – the matter. Sticking to an anti-gay rights agenda could cost the GOP votes down the road, and many Republicans are wisely seeing that on a purely political basis, things need to change.  The same trend, however, is not mirrored on the matter of gun control. According to a recent study by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, voters aged 18-29 are not clamoring for more gun control, even after the tragedies in Colorado and at Sandy Hook elementary school.