Does Any Politician From Downstate Have a Clue?

I'll make this short and sweet ... are there two entirely different New Yorks, one north of Westchester County and one south of it? It certainly seems increasingly so. I'm not especially referring to the fact that one tends to be more rural or suburban while the other is mega-urban. What I am pointing out is the vast differences in attitudes that affect the entire state, not just one or the other. Now, the majority of the entire state being run by downstate, apparently those of us residing north and west of Westchester no longer are expected to have a voice in the state politics.

The current bevy of gun control bills being ushered through the legislature has become the poster boy for this separation of power. The package of gun control bills (aka "the Terrible Thirteen") were almost entirely spawned by downstate politicians who seemingly based their thinking on what's good for mega-urban areas is good for every area. Even the terminology in some of the bills show how little they understand the very subject their bill is targeting. Take for example the micro stamping bill which would require every semi-auto handgun to have a firing pin that would leave a distinctive mark on every shell casing fired from it. Experts simply say this is impractical and ineffective, and has never been a successful tool in solving gun-related crimes but would only increased the production cost immeasureably. Crooks would only need to remove the pin marking from their gun, or else use a revolver that leaves no spent casings.

New York already has the most strict firearms laws in the nation, few of which have stopped some street crook, druggie or gang member from getting illegal guns on the black market and using them in their crimminal pursuits. Adding more won't stop that, but it will certainly raise hell with law-abiding citizens all over the state.