SAFE Act protest Saturday in Middleburgh

1/8/2014

By David Avitabile

Detractors of the New York's SAFE Act will emphatically protest the law at the Middleburgh Rod and Gun Club Saturday.
With the first anniversary of the controversial law only days away, members of the Schoharie County Conservation Club, members of the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors, veterans, and several other local, state, and federal representatives will discharge firearms at noon Saturday at the Rod and Gun Club to protest the state law.
The event will be by invitation only.
Guests can arrive between 10 and 11:30am and the discharges will begin at noon in a "safe and legal manner," according to Kevin Sisson of the Conservation Association.
"It is a protest of the SAFE Act and an opportunity to take hold of our liberties and freedom," Mr. Sisson explained.
Schoharie County Supervisors, many veterans, Sheriff Tony Desmond, members of each club in the Conservation Association, several state and federal officials, deputies who are not on duty, and other groups such as SCOPE, New York Revolution, NY2A, Oathkeepers and others have been invited to the protest, Mr. Sisson added.
Protests will be held in other areas of the state on the same day. The SAFE Act law was approved by the state legislature on January 15, 2013.
Joe Kopacz, the president of the Rod and Gun Club, said officials want to keep the event low-key, "but we want our voices heard."
It will be a "gathering of citizens that feel our second amendment rights have been trampled on for no good reason."
Mr. Sisson, a Carlisle councilman who helped organize the March rally against the SAFE Act, invited supervisors to the event at the board's organizational meeting Friday.
He has fought the passage of the new law since its inception.
"I will stand. I will not back down."