Here is a letter I wrote a couple weeks ago to Governor Cuomo and other politicians (modified for their position). You can use it for your own use if you live in NY.
Dear Governor:
My wife and I along with our children and both our families grew up in and currently live in New York. We enjoy the Adirondacks and surrounding area with regard to our outdoor hobbies but hopefully within the next couple years my wife and I will be moving out of Rockland County and New York and for more reasons than anyone should have. With the New York Assembly and Senate convening very soon there is significant talk that gun control in NY will be an important topic. I thought I would take this opportunity to provide you some of the reasons, and these are just a few, of why we plan on moving out of New York and encourage others to do so, though many don’t need our encouragement.
·Rockland has many issues in which some are unique and are not the scope of this letter (Ramapo School District, poor county property deals, etc...).
·One issue is the county’s financial status whose Moody’s bond rating is currently Baa3 (1), so due to Rockland’s poor financial status and improper management the residents are taxed beyond tolerable, for example the tax on new vehicle registrations and the “Energy Use” tax.
·Some of New York’s highest paid public servants are in Rockland including a Police Chief who is paid more than the New York City Police Chief (2, 3). This includes police departments who are amongst the highest paid in the state which has caused an increase in taxes.
·NY residents bear the highest tax burden in the US (as of 2010 data) (4).
·Many of the highest property taxes are located in NY; Westchester #1, Nassau #2, Rockland #4, Putnam #11, Suffolk #12 (as of 2010 data)(5).
·NY State ranks #38 (of the highest) in unemployment with a rate of 8.3% (6).
·A state deficit which could reach one billion (7).
·The state is number one in air pollution (8).
·There is an estimate of 630,000 unauthorized immigrants in New York which in turn is a tax burden to property tax payers (9, 10).
Keep in mind this is a short list and gathered in only one hour of research. In gathering this information we have also found that according to the FBI, 8.5 times as many people are murdered with knives, blunt objects and bare hands than with a firearm (11). The fact that as gun laws improve in favor of the law abiding citizen crime rates have fallen (12). As a father, husband and home owner I cannot get over a couple murders which occurred near our home, one of a wife and mother and the other of a beloved daughter and teacher (13, 14). In both these horrifying murders the offender did not use a firearm to commit the crime but my wife and I cannot get past what if either of the victims possessed one to defend their lives.
The state of New York continues to make it difficult for residents to defend themselves as many hand held self-defense items are illegal to own, obtain or illegal to ship to NY State residents. With the increase in taxes and budget cuts we can foresee a reduction in police staff and their hours which will reduce the security provided by our police officers. There are statistics with regard to when a crime is being committed and police response time but it’s not in favor of the victim and this letter is getting long enough.
Governor, with all due respect given the list provided above and other facts we believe you, the senate and other elected officials have more important issues to resolve than firearms and that of law abiding citizens. I know the issues I listed are difficult to address but that’s why you are in your elected position but restricting, punishing and putting in the spotlight law abiding citizens and their firearms is petty and just shows that government would rather address the innocent and law abiding than the real issues.
And by the way, having to write this letter is another reason why we are leaving.
Sincerely,
References:
1.
http://www.moodys.com/credit-ratings...-rating-724750
2.
http://www.lawofficer.com/article/ne...est-paid-gover
3.
http://www.clarkstowntaxpayers.com/docs/salsumm.pdf
4.
http://taxfoundation.org/tax-topics/...pending-policy
5.
http://taxfoundation.org/tax-topics/property-taxes
6.
http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm
7.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/g...yHtXzn9r6UEy4L
8.
http://scorecard.goodguide.com/env-r...ank-states.tcl
9.
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/s...ll_pe_2011.pdf
10.
http://www.illegalimmigrationstatistics.org/
11.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr...e-data-table-8
12.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr...tables/table-1
13.
http://www.forgottenvictims.com/Mary%20Nagle.htm
14.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2012062...-Erlich-murder