If you’re unfamiliar with firearm legislation in New York state, the SAFE act (a knee-jerk reaction to the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting tragedy) may seem like an unprecedented assault on 2nd Amendment rights. In fact, it’s simply business as usual for New York legislators. (Yeah, it’s all about guns.)
[I wrote the following article 12 years ago, and have republished it here, in the wake of the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, to provide an insight into the history of New York’s highly restrictive gun control ordinances.]
Guns for me, but not for thee
New York’s first assault on gun owners dates back to 1911 when New York politician and thug “Big Tim” Sullivan decided to ramrod the law that bears his name through the state legislature. In what is perhaps the ultimate irony of gun control legislation, the true intent of the Sullivan Act was to protect criminals, not law-abiding citizens.
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To fully appreciate Sullivan’s audacity, you have to take a mental journey to New York City during the waning years of the 19th century. Irish immigrants and first generation Irish Americans largely controlled the city’s corrupt Democratic party, which headquartered itself at Tammany Hall, a building on East 14th Street. By the late 1800s, “Tammany Hall” had become more than a mere building; it stood as the symbol of New York City political corruption.
Guns and Crime- the ultimate cover-up
Like many of his Tammany Hall colleagues, Sullivan had turned to politics as a means of expanding the scope of his illegal activities. (Apparently, some things never change.) Concurrent with Sullivan’s rise to power, “the neighborhood went to hell”, as a wave of Italian immigrants, many of whom brought Mafia connections with them, flooded the city. Ethnic diversity being unheard of at the time, the reigning Irish/American criminals never welcomed their newly arrived Italian counterparts into the fold. Instead, they saw the budding Mafia types as competition, and law-abiding immigrants as an additional source of potential victims.
The advent of Italian “bad guys” seriously altered New York City’s criminal landscape. Instead of being able to run their illegal operations without challenge, Sullivan and his cronies had to confront the fact that an arduous day of racketeering would likely be interrupted by challenges and preemptive strikes from armed competitors. Certainly, life would be much easier for Tammany Hall’s elite if they were the only ones carrying guns.
Using his Tammany Hall connections, Sullivan managed to win election to the New York state senate. As a state legislator, he was able to push passage of a law that empowered local authorities to issue or deny gun ownership permits at their own discretion. Although the Sullivan Act is largely cited as a gun control law, it in fact applies to a variety of weapons, including brass knuckles, blackjacks, bludgeons and bombs. The “genius” of the Sullivan Act is that as a state, as opposed to city law, its true purpose was more easily disguised.
The Sullivan Act became law in 1911. Since its passage, New York City’s police department (which at the time was under Tammany Hall’s thumb) has controlled the issuance of permits. During that time, NYPD has issued permits almost exclusively to retired police officers and well-connected residents. (Some notable New Yorkers who have been granted permits are Senator Charles Schumer, Robert DeNiro, Howard Stern, Harvey Keitel, Joan Rivers and William Buckley, Jr.) Apparently, in the land of bleeding heart liberals, if you’re rich and/or famous you should be able to protect and defend yourself, but if you’re not, you don’t deserve that right.
For generations of New Yorkers, gun ownership has been a privilege, not a right. The SAFE Act reinforces that concept and proves that although Tim Sullivan and Tammany Hall may be long gone, their spirits live on in any number of politicians who would have us believe that the best way to protect our rights is to surrender them to government regulation. Including guns.
Cross posted with Dave’s Substack.
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