PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Local law enforcers weigh in on gun control debate :: 12/28/2015
On an ordinary spring day in 2010, Abraham Dickan walked into the AT&T store on Commercial Drive with a loaded .380-caliber revolver and a hit list.
Fortunately for the employees and customers, Rome Police Officer Donald J. Moore was off-duty and shopping with his girlfriend when Dickan entered and opened fire, shooting one of the employees. Moore immediately drew his personal firearm, moved in front of his girlfriend and the other customers, and shot Dickan several times, killing him.
Due to Moore’s quick actions, multiple lives were saved.
Because of Moore’s actions, the Village of New York Mills did not become part of the national debate on mass shootings and gun control.
“If he wasn’t in AT&T that day, we would have had eight dead people on our hands, without a doubt,” said Sheriff Robert M. Maciol in a recent interview.
“I firmly believe the only thing that’s going to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. I whole-heartedly believe that.”
Maciol is paraphrasing National Rifle Association President Wayne LaPierre from 2012, who spoke of bad guys, good guys and guns in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Connecticut, which left 26 people dead. The quote has only gained momentum since then, with more and more mass shootings across the United States.
Most recently, a husband and wife with links to international terrorism opened fire in San Bernardino, California on Dec. 2, killing 14 and injuring 22. In the wake of that shooting, Ulster County New York Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum posted to his department’s Facebook page encouraging all legal, law-abiding citizens with the proper permits to carry their weapons at all times.
Many other sheriffs and law enforcers have come out to echo that sentiment, including Maciol and Rome Police Chief Kevin C. Beach.
“I’m all about pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment. But the most important thing, when people are getting pistol permits, is that the permits go to law-abiding, stable citizens. And then, with that, they’ve got to be trained in using the firearm,” Maciol said.
“Being able to have a firearm, being able to know how to use that firearm, that’s one thing. But having that firearm and knowing how to use it in a stressful situation, are two different things.”
Moore, who now serves with the state police, was unavailable for interview. Likewise, his superiors in the state police declined to comment on the highly political issue of gun control, as did Utica Police Chief Mark Williams.
Pistol permit increase
New York State is a concealed carry state, meaning that anyone who carries a handgun in a public place needs to have it concealed. Most states across the country require a special permit to carry a concealed firearm, but in New York, it’s automatic. What New York requires is that anyone who owns a handgun, pistol or revolver be licensed for that weapon.
And since the shootings in San Bernardino, there has been a noticeable uptick in applications for handguns, according to Daniel Sullivan, the assistant pistol licensing officer for Oneida County.
“It generally happens anytime the governor or president talks about gun control. We get buried,” Sullivan said.
There were over 300 individual gun registrations in the first half of December, amounting to more than 30 applications a day, Sullivan said. His office usually only handles about 15 applications a day.
Sullivan said that about 90 percent of applications are for hunting, and the pistol permits are then issued with restrictions for use in hunting or for other sporting purposes. There is a smaller number of pistol permits issued without any restrictions, and Sullivan said that the applicant must have a “compelling” reason to get an unrestricted pistol permit.
“A lot of people ask for it, but ‘my Constitutional right’ doesn’t work,” Sullivan stated.
Armed citizens
“I believe that people should have the right to carry a gun. I don’t think that’s a problem as long as people are responsible and know how to handle a gun,” said Beach.
“But you have to understand, also, we don’t want people out there that are taking up arms and shooting at people because somebody is stealing a pack of gum from a grocery store. People need to let police officers do the policing.”
Beach and Maciol both said that they have not heard any complaints or concerns from their officers about the potential increase of ordinary citizens carrying guns. Maciol said he believes that any stable, law-abiding citizen who has been approved to carry a gun — and therefore undergone an extensive background check and approval process — will know when and when not to use it.
“They may feel that they are comfortable carrying it, but I’m hoping that those people are comfortable with themselves carrying that weapon,” Maciol said.
“If someone encounters a situation where they feel they need to use their weapon, and the suspect is fleeing that scene, if they shoot them as they’re fleeing that scene, depending on what scene they’re fleeing from, what type of crime, they may not be justified to shoot them. So if they don’t know that and they end up shooting them, they may be charged.”
On Oct. 6, in Auburn Hills, Michigan, 46-year-old Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez spotted a pair of shoplifters fleeing through the parking lot of a Home Depot. According to reports, Duva-Rodriguez pulled out her licensed handgun and opened fire on the thieves’ vehicle, hitting a tire. The two shoplifters got away, but were later arrested.
Duva-Rodriguez was charged with reckless use of a firearm, was sentenced to 18 months probation, and had her concealed carry permit revoked until 2023, as reported by the Associated Press.
“I made a decision in a split second. Maybe it was not the right one, but I was trying to help,” Duva-Rodriguez said in court at her Dec. 9 sentencing. “I learned my lesson that I will never help anybody again.”
Maciol said people like Duva-Rodriguez should never have a gun in the first place.
Obey the law
“I think when it comes to ordinary citizens using a weapon, if there’s a life and death situation: absolutely. For minor infractions, when it comes to violations of the law...short of life and death, I would much rather see a citizen contact the police department. Let us take care of that. We’d hate for a situation to escalate,” said Chief Beach.
“I don’t support everybody running around with guns and trying to jump in and take care of all crime that’s going on.”
Beach warned that if you are licensed to carry a firearm, you also need to be aware of how police officers may react. Traffic stops are one of the most dangerous encounters for an officer, Beach said, and if you’re pulled over and carrying a weapon, you should let the officer know in advance. Beach said it would help to put the officer at ease to be aware of any firearms.
“Police officers need to know who’s out there carrying guns. If you’ve just got to be more careful with it and let officers know,” Beach said. “I’m not saying that people are overreacting, but I think that we need to be responsible.”
And if you do end up using your weapon in a life or death situation, Beach and Maciol warn to be prepared to cooperate with responding officers, who might not be able to tell you from the danger. They advice to drop your weapon and know that you may be detained for some time until the scene is cleared up.
“The last thing you want to do is have a bunch of people armed with guns who don’t know what they’re doing,” Maciol said. He has spoken with members of his staff about finding a way to make gun safety courses more available.
“If it’s a stable, law-abiding citizen who can carry that gun without any restrictions, if they want to do that — and I’m not calling on them to do that — but if they want to do that, I have no issue with that at all.”
