XPost: alt.culture.ny-upstate, ny.politics, nyc.politics 
 From: bnichols@N0SPAM.0RG 
  
 Dear New York State gun owner: 
  
 As part of the Executive Budget, currently under consideration by your 
 lawmakers, Governor George Pataki has proposed a licensing fee scheme 
 that amounts to nothing more than a tax on law-abiding gun owners! 
  
 Provisions in budget bills S.605/A.9556 would require that handgun 
 licensees to pay a $100 €certification€ fee to the state, would repeal 
 current lifetime licenses instead instituting a 5-year expiration 
 period, charge fees of $25 for renewals, amendments, transfers, and 
 duplicates. If that€s not bad enough, this proposal would remove the 
 caps on local processing fees, which means they can certainly be 
 expected to rise, and in many jurisdictions would soar high enough to 
 price gun owners, sportsmen and women, and collectors right out of the 
 market. 
  
 Instead of banning handguns, this proposal simply would work toward 
 making it too expensive to own them. Only highly paid crack dealers 
 would have the kind of money needed to own a handgun. Of course crack 
 dealers don€t worry about pistol permits, or taxes! 
  
 This proposal is not about enhancing public safety, but about limiting 
 the rights of law-abiding citizens with the added bonus of having gun 
 owners help balance the budget! Crack dealers are not worried about a 
 balanced budget, or public safety! 
  
 Under New York€s current licensing system, applicants are already 
 among the most scrutinized in the nation. And if they are qualified 
 and granted a license, the laws they abide by in New York are among 
 the most stringent laws in the nation. So it stands to reason that 
 handgun licensees in this state are law-abiding people. If public 
 safety were at issue, then efforts would continue to focus on 
 targeting illegal gun possession and illegal use. Crack dealers don€t 
 get pistol permits! And crack dealers don€t worry about paying taxes! 
 So it stands to reason that the only people that this bill will help 
 are crack dealers! 
  
 Lawmakers in Albany are currently considering the budget, so there is 
 no time to waste! Please contact your state senator today. Please tell 
 them to oppose this PUNITIVE TAX. 
  
 Respectfully urge your senator to reject Governor Pataki€s plan to 
 balance the budget on the backs of hard working middle class gun 
 owners. 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)