Greene County sheriff Greg Seeley addressed a group of pro-gun activists at a videogame store in Catskill last week, along with Congressman Chris Gibson and New York State Assemblyman Pete Lopez.
Seeley has been a steadfast opponent of the SAFE Act. He told the crowd he stood before them representing no one party, person or agency.
“I’m talking Greg Seeley, Greene County taxpayer and your elected sheriff of Greene County,” Seeley said. “Everybody in this room knows my opinion about this New York State Safe Act, it stinks,” Seeley added. “Don’t believe it was written overnight. It has been in progress for the last year or two, ‘cause I don’t believe anybody can write that much, that fast overnight.”
If Seeley was angry with the law, some in his audience were angrier. One unidentified man challenged Seeley on how far he would go if state police attempted to confiscate guns that have been rendered illegal by the new law:
A young man stood up in the middle of the room and asked the sheriff where he stood if state authorities came in to take the guns of county residents that didn’t comply with the law.
“Do you stand with us or with them,” the young man asked.
“I’m not beating around this question whatsoever,” Seeley said, “I’m not going to say that we are going to get the National Guard and shoot the state police and shoot the federal agencies and stuff like that.”
“I’m asking you what you will do,” the voice persisted.
“I will not violate you constitutional rights,” Seeley said sternly. “So if somebody comes to me and you are a law abiding citizen and you legally possess your guns and you legally have permit, we’re not coming to your house to take your guns from you … I’m with you.”
In his speech to the crowd, Seeley repeated a claim that has been repeatedly denied by the Connecticut State Police: That an assault weapon was not used in the killings of 20 schoolchildren and six teachers in Newtown last December.
Addressing the issue of tougher assault weapons ban in the new law, Seeley said he had to “beat up the media” over the coverage of Newtown and how it was continually reported that an assault rifle was used in the mass killing.
“The said assault weapon, assault weapon, assault weapon,” Seeley said. “Finally another media got a hold of it and said the truth is, the assault weapon was in the trunk of the vehicle.”
Lt. J. Paul Vance, the face of an ongoing Connecticut State Police investigation into worst grade-school shooting in U.S. history, Thursday debunked media and Internet reports that Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza killed his victims with handguns and not the Bushmaster XM-15 E2S rifle that is now the focus of a proposed federal assault-weapons ban.
All 26 of Lanza's victims were shot with the .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle, said Vance, who bristled at claims to the contrary during an interview with Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.
"It's all these conspiracy theorists that are trying to mucky up the waters," said Vance, the longtime state police spokesman.
Many other upstate New York law enforcement officers have also declared opposition to -- or expressed criticism of -- the SAFE Act.
In a fourteen-point statement, the NYS Sheriffs' Association has issued a response to the Act that includes support for some provisions and criticism of others. In nearby Delaware County, sheriff Tom Mills recently issued an open letter to citizens criticizing the SAFE Act, and called upon the Board of Supervisors to support a resolution opposing it.
