LITTLE VALLEY — Cattaraugus County lawmakers are expected to approve a resolution Wednesday asking the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to repeal the NY SAFE Act outside the five boroughs of New York City.
All 12 Republican members of the Cattaraugus County Legislature and David Koch, D-Salamanca, are co-sponsors of the resolution.
The SAFE Act was adopted four years ago and included the registration of assault weapons, limits on magazine capacity and restrictions on the transfer of weapons without a background check. The law also includes provisions on safe storage of weapons in homes with a prohibited person, replacing the for-life pistol permit rules in many counties with a five-year renewal process and changes in involuntary committal procedures for those suspected of having mental health issues that could be a danger to oneself or to others.
The resolution states that “in the past four years, the SAFE Act has not proven effective in reducing crime and violent acts associated with firearms,” with legislators endorsing Republican-backed bills in the Senate and Assembly that would repeal the SAFE Act. The Senate bill also would remove restrictions on the transfer of guns to family members upon the death of the owner. The bill would limit SAFE Act enforcement to Kings, Queens, Richmond, New York and Bronx counties.
County legislators said the SAFE Act “is viewed as an infringement upon the rights guaranteed to them by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the vast majority of the citizens of Cattaraugus County oppose the SAFE Act.”
Sections of the SAFE Act have not stood the test of time. A federal court struck down a provision barring gun owners from loading more than seven rounds into a 10-round detachable magazine. Provisions for background checks on ammunition purchases were abandoned in 2015 after state officials decided not to invest in the required background check system.
ANOTHER RESOLUTION proposed by the Public Works Committee chairman and vice chairman would award the 2017 Site Improvements at The Pines Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center’s Olean campus to Highland Acres Landscaping, Hamburg, for $393,400.
Another major project is also on the agenda: the reconstruction of the intersection of County Road 57 and Bentley Road in the town of Dayton by Milhurst Construction, Clarence Center, for $459,754.
In addition, a $125,100 bid for engineering services from Greenman-Pederson Inc., Buffalo, for the intersection was approved. That will bring the engineering total on the project to $314,641.
A contract is expected to be renewed with the Cattaraugus Rehabilitation Center, Allegany for management, operation and control of the Linwood Adult Daycare Center.
The cost will be $70,050, to be paid monthly through the Department of the Aging. If approved, the contract would be in effect through March 31, 2018.
Another proposed contract would pay Elder Law and Justice, Buffalo, $38,000 to provide legal services for the county’s elderly.
A $350,000 Community Development Block Grant for the replacement of unsafe and unsanitary water wells and septic system to residents who quality. A public hearing will be held at 3 p.m. March 30 at 1 Leo Moss Drive, Olean.
(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com.
Follow him on Twitter, @RMiller OTH)
