The town of Fenner has joined the ranks of an increasing number of municipalities around New York to formally oppose the state’s recent gun restriction law — and recently received support for its move from local Assemblyman Bill Magee.
The Fenner Town Board approved Resolution No. 2, “Opposing the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Act of 2013” at its regular February meeting.
The resolution declares the law “fundamentally alters or abridges the right to keep and bear arms without addressing the problem of gun violence,” that it creates an environment hostile to gun manufacture and ownership and imposes burdensome new regulations on legal gun owners. It calls upon the state legislature and the governor to “annul this ill-conceived and poorly drafted statute.”
Copies of the resolution were sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, State Senator David Valesky, Magee, the chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors and the New York State Association of Towns.
Magee responded in a Feb. 21 letter to the Fenner Town Board with his support for their resolution and his statement of the fact that he voted against the gun law when it came up for a vote in the state assembly.
The board has received no other responses to its resolution, said Town Clerk Joanne Buyea at the board’s March 13 meeting.
According to the National Association of Counties, as of March 8, 37 of the state’s 58 counties had passed resolutions calling on Cuomo and the state legislature to amend or repeal the law. A listing of all towns and counties that have acted either in opposition to or support of the NY SAFE Act is listed on the NY SAFE Resolutions website, nysaferesolutions.com, which was created specifically to documents municipality and organization resolutions on the law.
While numerous other municipalities throughout the state have approved similar resolutions opposing the gun law, Fenner is the only town in the Cazenovia school district area to have done so. Cazenovia and Nelson have not taken any action.
The Madison County Board of Supervisors has also voiced its opposition to the law and approved a resolution calling for its repeal at the board’s Feb. 12 meeting, with Cazenovia Town Supervisor Ralph Monforte and Fenner Town Supervisor Russell Carey voting yes, and Nelson Town Supervisor Roger Bradstreet voting no.
The county supervisors then passed a second resolution on the NY SAFE Act at their March 14 meeting, asking the state to tell the county how to fund, or how to get assistance to fund, background checks required in the bill. That resolution also repeated the Feb. 12 request that the governor repeal the law.
Also at its March meeting, the Fenner Town Board approved a resolution to pay mileage expenses for town employees traveling to approved municipal training classes, and announced that its annual Spring Cleanup will take place May 3 and 4.
The board also recently issued legal notices that town assessment inventory and valuation data, which is to establish parcel assessment on the town assessment rolls, is available for public examination and review and that the town’s financial statement for the year 2012 has been completed and is on file at the town clerk’s office for public inspection. Any resident who wish to view the town assessment inventory must make an appointment by calling Town Assessor Rhonda Weigand at 668-9931.
The board also has announced that it is currently collecting a list of residents willing to serve on the Town of Fenner Board of Assessment Review. Anyone interested in the appointment, or who has questions or concerns about it, should contact the town offices at 655-2705 or [email protected].
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
