BELLEVUE, WA – The New York-based Shooters Committee On Political Education (SCOPE) has made a generous $5,000 contribution to the Second Amendment Foundation’s continuing legal efforts to roll back onerous gun laws in various states, including New York, where SAF recently filed a lawsuit in Westchester County over a state law that allows carry licenses to be denied because applicants cannot show “good cause.”
“This generous contribution from our good friends at SCOPE will help our battle against gun laws that tie the hands of law-abiding citizens in bureaucratic red tape,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “SCOPE’s donation is a financial right-hook to the indifference of public officials who really should be the ones required to show ‘good cause’ for withholding a gun permit.”
“For too long New York State has treated the right to keep and bear arms and even the basic right of self defense as privilege to be granted or denied at the whim of government officials,” added Stephen J Aldstadt, SCOPE president.
On July 16, SAF filed a lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of Alan Kachalsky and Christina Nikolov, both Westchester County residents whose permit applications were denied. Kachalsky’s denial was because he could not “demonstrate a need for self protection distinguishable from that of the general public.” Nikolov’s was denied because she could not demonstrate that there was “any type of threat to her own safety anywhere.” In addition to Westchester County, Susan Cacace and Jeffrey Cohen, both serving at times as handgun permit licensing officers, are named as defendants. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, White Plains Division.
“This case strikes right at the core of a problem that has existed in New York for generations,” Gottlieb said. “For far too long, the New York bureaucracy has treated our Second Amendment right as a second-class privilege. Thanks to SCOPE, we will fight to correct this unjust system in the courts. We’re restoring gun rights one lawsuit at a time.”