Monday, October 23, 2017

MON, Oct 30 @ 5:30 PM >> VIGIL/RALLY in support of GUN SHOW BAN

Protect Our Communities From Gun Violence!!



Ban Gun Shows at Westchester County Center

VIGIL and RALLY

Monday, October 30, 5:30 PM

Westchester County Board of Legislators
148 Martine Avenue, White Plains, NY

Join the Vigil/Rally at 5:30 PM and Then Help Us
Pack the Chamber for the Vote at 7:00 PM!! 

Download Vigil Flyer

What’s Going On?  In January, Westchester County legislators voted by a narrow majority of 9-8  to ban gun shows at the Westchester County Center.  But the bill was swiftly vetoed by County Executive Rob Astorino.

Westchester County has a mission to promote public safety and public health, and should not be in the business of hosting and advertising for-profit gun shows.  As many as 500 weapons -- and thousands of rounds of ammunition -- can be sold at a single gun show.

On October 1, 59 people were killed and over 500 people were wounded in a horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, NV.
  The Las Vegas attacker used 12 legally-acquired semi-automatic assault weapons, modified with “bump stocks” to allow them to be fired as fully-automatic weapons.  “Bump stocks” can currently be legally sold at gun shows in New York, and could be sold in White Plains if the County permits another gun show.   Also, in the past, Nazi books and paraphernalia were offered for sale at the 2016 Gun and Knife Show at the County Center.


Westchester communities have experienced several tragic gun violence incidents over the last year, including:
       

  •  On December 24, 2016, O’Neil Bandoo, a nightclub owner in Mt. Vernon, was shot and killed by a disgruntled customer.  Five other people were wounded.
  • On New Year’s Eve, 13-year old basketball star Shamoya McKenzie was killed by a stray bullet in Mt. Vernon, while she was riding in a car with her mom.
  • On August 25, a 56 year-old father named Stephen Dym killed his wife and daughter at their home in Pound Ridge, before taking his own life.
  • On September 24, 16-year old Joseph Kuaffo was fatally shot in the chest at his home in Yonkers, by a 17-year old boy from the Bronx.
Your voice matters!!   Please help us stop Westchester County from scheduling another commercial Gun Show at our County Center.   Make sure the County Legislators who represent you know where you stand. 


If 12 legislators vote now to ban the gun shows, the Board of Legislators can override Astorino’s veto, and prevent any future gun shows at the County Center or other County facilities.


Cosponsored by: AntiRacist Alliance, CD17Indivisible, Indivisible Westchester,
Interfaith Clergy for Social Action, Prevent Gun Violence-Westchester,
Westchester For Change, WESPAC Foundation; Nancy Vann, candidate for County
Legislator District 4 (list in formation)

For more information, please contact:


Prevent Gun Violence-Westchester
www.PreventGunViolence.org
reducegunviolence [at] gmail.com


Download Vigil Flyer



Almost 6,000 people have signed our MoveOn Petition.  The people of Westchester County don't want gun shows in our county-owned buildings.

Veto Override Flyers Targeting Individual Legislators:   We have created individual flyers for each district, where the legislator voted against the Gun Show Ban.   The flyer tells you which legislator to call and email, and how to contact them.


Please distribute our flyers whenever and whereever you can.   Post them in libraries, grocery stores and laundromats.  Go leafleting at your local Metro-North station or grocery store.   Distribute them in PTAs, religious and community organizations.  Volunteer to staff a literature table on Gun Violence Prevention at village or town events.   Hold a screening of Gun Violence Prevention video at your community organization.  The goal is to get the word out widely, and and to get our neighbors and friends to take action now, by contacting the legislators to urge them to change their vote.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Don't Allow "Bump Stocks" To Be Sold At Gun Shows in Westchester County!


Shoppers look at assorted displays at the 2010 Gun and Knife Show at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.  (Journal News File Photo).


To the Editor:

"...As we continue to process the awful events that took place in Las Vegas, and as our hearts hurt with the grief of others, we cannot lose sight of how something like this happened, and diligently work to prevent it from ever reoccurring.

Private gun shows continue to sell legal deadly modification kits for rifles, now known as the "bump stock." The modification kit allows the weapon to "bump" back and forth between the shooter's shoulder and trigger finger, effectively enabling a semi-automatic rifle to act like a fully automatic assault weapon. Assault weapons are currently outlawed in the United States.

These modification kits should never be sold in Westchester County. We call on our legislators and our County Executive to rethink allowing private gun shows carte-blanche privilege to sell these items — which effectively enable the propagation of weapons of mass carnage — right here in our County Center.

County legislators must put a moratorium on private gun shows in any county facility until the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, regulating firearms in the U.S., can re-evaluate the legality of such devices and get them recalled from distributors and off the streets.

This is a call to action with an initiative to keep our first responders, law enforcement and the people of this great county, and country, safe. We should not wait for the ATF to act, we must act now."

Sincerely,

Kitley Covill, Westchester County Legislative Democratic candidate for District 2
Daren Tolz, Westchester County Legislative Democratic candidate for District 3
Nancy Barr, Westchester County Legislative Democratic candidate for District 6
Damon Maher, Westchester County Legislative Democratic candidate for District 10

http://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/readers/2017/10/16/dont-allow-bump-stock-sales-gun-shows-westchester-letter/768957001/