While we appreciate the resolution passed by the Saratoga City Council urging exhibitors to refrain from selling high-powered weapons at the NEACA gun show to be held this weekend at the Saratoga City Center, it is not enough. We, along with nearly 1,300, mostly local residents, have signed a petition demanding that the show be canceled.
Here are some of the reasons why.
First, this is no time for business as usual. The Newtown, Conn., massacre took place in our region, in a sleepy town a lot like Saratoga Springs. Regardless of our views about gun control, for many, just the sight of a rifle invokes images of that day, of the terrible efficiency afforded the killer by his high-powered rifle and extended magazine. It is insensitive to display and sell guns in the center of our downtown.
Second, the Saratoga City Center is our City Center, funded by taxpayer dollars, governed by directors appointed by our elected mayor. Do we want gun shows to be held in a public venue?
The City Center board and Mayor Scott Johnson have suggested that the City Center's contract with NEACA ties their hands. This is disingenuous.
Contracts can be renegotiated, or, if necessary, broken. A contract did not stop a county-run exhibition hall in White Plains from canceling a gun show for next month. Private entities in Danbury, Conn., Suffern and Poughkeepsie have done the same. Saratoga Springs will be the first community in the region to host a gun show in a public space. That should not be.
For these reasons, and many others, we, and many other concerned citizens, including members of a newly formed group, Saratogians for Gun Safety, continue to urge the City Center board to cancel the show.
DEDE HILL GREG HRBEK
Saratoga Springs