Kathy Hochul Buffalo ally Sen. Sean Ryan takes aim at the NRA – but the beef isn’t about gun sales

An Albany lawmaker in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s hometown is targeting the NRA — but not to encourage gun sales.

Instead, State Senator Sean Ryan (D-Buffalo) is pushing to stop the group from promoting gun safety in New York.

Newly introduced legislation would do so, stripping the group of its near-monopoly on the “properly authorized instructor” certification that every New Yorker needs to complete the safety training required for a concealed carry license under state laws passed last summer is required.

“Where the NRA was once considered the authority on gun safety, it has become an extremist organization that prioritizes political advocacy at the expense of safety,” argues a legal memo accompanying the bill presented this week.

“The NRA has pursued an extreme political agenda focused on repealing gun safety laws here in New York and across the country. Through its behavior as an organization, the NRA has proven that it is no longer an authority on gun safety,” the memo adds.

Current state law names the NRA as the only entity in New York, alongside the Armed Forces and National Guard, that can certify such instructors, with the bylaws taking effect next July and allowing the state’s Department of Criminal Justice Services to also certify instructors.

“The NRA has been, and has been, the gold standard for firearm safety training in the United States for 172 years. We were founded in 1871. And that was exactly the purpose: to promote safety and gun training,” said Tom King, president of the NRA-affiliated New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.

But that role would end in New York if Ryan’s proposed bill ever passed the legislature and was signed by the governor – with the DCJS filling the gap.

“New York State has no control over the safety curriculum required to obtain a New York State handgun permit. [That] doesn’t seem to make much sense,” Ryan, a longtime hochul ally, told The Post.

“Compare it to what it takes to get a hunting license, where you do an eight-hour course. And this syllabus is dated[State Department of Environmental Conservation]set and the trainers are authorized by the DEC. So I believe the same trainers who are now authorized by the NRA will simply become DCJS guys.”[stateDepartmentofEnvironmentalConservation)andthetrainersareauthorizedbytheDECSoIbelievethesametrainerswhoarenowNRAauthorizedwillsimplybecomeDCJSguys”[stateDepartmentofEnvironmentalConservation)andthetrainersareauthorizedbytheDECSoIbelievethesametrainerswhoarenowNRAauthorizedwillsimplybecomeDCJSguys”

He added that the matter gained urgency after a teenage racist allegedly gunned down 10 people at a convenience store in a mostly black area of ​​Buffalo last May.

Gun safety courses have gained outsized importance since the summer when the U.S. Supreme Court — in the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case — struck down a centuries-old New York City law that required people to show “proper reason” to pack You heat at rock bottom.

Hochul then waved state legislatures back to Albany to enact new rules for concealing hauling permits, which included a requirement that permit applicants receive hours of safety training from a “duly authorized instructor,” likely NRA certified.

Gun rights groups have attacked the new laws, claiming they represent a Hochul-led assault on New Yorkers’ rights under the Second Amendment, with the bill, proposed by Ryan this week, also met with a chilly reception.

“It’s no different than calling someone a criminal because it goes against your train of thought and your reasoning… If you look at the states – particularly Governor Hochul’s reaction to the Supreme Court decision – they don’t really care about him Supreme Court or the United States Constitution,” King said.

Ryan said “it’s not a penalty at all” for denying the NRA the lucrative business of training safety instructors, who have to pay the group hundreds of dollars for the course.

“The NRA often screeches the loudest when you get between it and revenue,” he added.

Hochul and DCJS officials declined to comment on the newly introduced legislation, which has yet to be formally introduced to the assembly.

The NRA, which did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, has a long history of providing safety training for children and adults alike, but its methods have been criticized for being either ineffective or overly ideological.

Lisa Monroe, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma who specializes in early childhood education, said she would never have helped the NRA develop its “Eddie Eagle” safety curriculum if she knew how the group would use it to backfire on safety calls Retention Laws.

“No one ever told me the program would be used that way,” she says. “If I had her, I assure you, I would have nothing to do with it,” she told The Trace in 2016.

The newly proposed bill is the latest sign of trouble for the NRA in New York, where the group was originally formed, as Attorney General Letitia James was embroiled in a lawsuit against the group over its finances and possible nonprofit violations by its leadership.

But gun rights advocates say they are preparing for a fight over Ryan’s bill once state lawmakers return to Albany for their regularly scheduled January legislature session.

“It’s still pretty early for us to know exactly how we’re going to tackle this, but believe me, we’re going to do it,” King said.