New Yorkers can take pride in the accomplishment of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and our legislative leaders who glorified the Empire State by rapidly enacting some useful enhancements to New York's gun control laws. Such leadership should make an impression on the tougher constituency that President Barack Obama is about to face.
Here in New York, we had a special problem. A local newspaper, the Journal News, opened a big can of worms by revealing the names and addresses of all the licensed pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties. Within days, the newspaper and its employees became victims of harassment by pro-gun zealots.
I have a pistol permit and did not like having my name and home address made available to a public that includes dangerous disturbed people. The revelation has caused great concern among some pistol permit holders about being personally exposed to the anti-gun lobby or to potential enemies they sought to defend themselves against who did not know where they lived.
The press should be free to publish the names and addresses of pistol permit holders unless there is a statutory prohibition on such publication, but that does not mean it was good editorial judgment or desirable public policy. The new law attempts to provide privacy protection to those who deserve it. Statutory confidentiality is well justified for those licensees who were ever required to deal with angry or potentially disturbed people who might be holding a grudge.
While the new law lists most of the categories of officials who are appropriately afforded a statutory right to privacy, there are others who should be protected. Some omissions from the new statute can be corrected by amendment. For example, while protecting the privacy of jurors in a criminal case, the Legislature omitted judges, probably the most vulnerable of all. While protecting parole officers, the legislature omitted members of the Parole Board who visit the prisons and conduct hearings that frequently lead to the rejection of applications.
While the statute assures grand jurors of their privacy, it fails to give protection to prosecutors. Lawyers involved on either side of a criminal prosecution can well become a devil to a convicted defendant. I can testify that those attorneys on the governor's staff who are required to spend time dealing with petitions for commutation of sentences and executive clemency may also be justified in seeking privacy if they have a pistol permit.
There were good reasons to rush the bill's enactment. New Yorkers had the opportunity to motivate, by example, federal and state lawmakers to pass worthwhile legislation, too.
With a little more time and the benefit of reaction to the new law, the New York legislation can be justifiably improved and made even more effective. In light of the atmosphere in Albany, Washington and elsewhere, the opportunity exists to enact truly lifesaving legislation.
The floodlight is now on all aspects of gun control. Sadly, the National Rifle Association has revealed a lack of intellectual prowess by its glaring lack of a constructive sense of responsibility in the one area in which it should be expert.
Matthew L. Lifflander is a lawyer and author of "The Impeachment of Governor Sulzer, A story of American Politics." He lives in Hastings-on-Hudson.