 Empire
State Gun Games, Eliminating the shooting sports could
backfire for New York City.
from OpinionJournal.com, WSJ.COM, by Brenda
Miniter, 6/17/03
CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE
A few years ago Thrine Kane was the star of New York's Empire
State Games. She won the junior air rifle competition and
was made the 1998 Athlete of the Year in New York. The
Long Islander then went on to place second in the 2000
Olympic trials--earning a spot to compete in Sydney, Australia.
This year her event along with all shooting sports, water
polo, fencing and open field hockey was cut from the Empire
State Games. So next month, for the first time since the
games started in 1978, competitive shooters will not be
welcome--although shooting associations will host their
own competition in Broome County to coincide with the games
in Buffalo.
The official reason why shooting sports and
other events were cut this year is financial--they all
draw few spectators
and a relatively small number of competitors. State officials
argue that in a year of tight budgets some events had to
go. The games cost about $3.4 million to put on and the
state picks up a third of the cost--the rest is paid for
by sponsors and advertisers. And this year, officials needed
to cut $200,000.
Shooters and other shooting enthusiasts are skeptical,
however. The games more than pay for themselves--even with
low-performing events. Recent games have pumped as much
as $10 million into local economies. Through sales taxes
alone, the state and local governments can rake in $800,000
or more in revenue.
The games are run by predominately
urban and suburban administrators who've been talking about eliminating
the shooting sports
for years. And for decades antigunners have forced shooting
ranges to comply with expensive environmental regulations
to remove lead bullets from the backstops behind their
targets as well as to install costly ventilation systems
in indoor ranges. Many of the high schools that still had
shooting teams were forced to disband them and close their
ranges to save money. That, combined with strict gun-control
regulations that bar anyone under 21 from possessing a
pistol, has devastated the youth competitions.
It also doesn't
quell any suspicions that officials of the games have rebuffed shooting associations
that want to
sponsor the shooting events. State officials reportedly
have said that they aren't equipped to handle donations
to support the competitions but won't disclose how much
those events actually cost. The Buffalo News's Mike Levy
calculates the cost at about $15,000 and perhaps as much
as $30,000. Last year, the New York State Rifle and Pistol
Association took out $3,000 in ads to support the games.
The association's President Thomas King says he'd love
to do more for the games, if they would only take his money.
This may all prove costly for New York City. It's no secret
that Mike Bloomberg wants the 2012 Summer Olympics to help
jump-start the city's economy. The mayor's staff even asked
Mr. King recently to write a letter to the Olympic Committee
vouching for New York State's friendliness toward shooting
sports. "That's a letter I clearly cannot write at
this point," Mr. King explained in a press release
recently. And it's too bad. In 2005 the Empire State Games
will be held in the Hudson Valley, an easy drive from New
York City. If shooters were allowed in, New York's games
could be an advertisement for how well New Yorkers treat
gun-toting competitors.
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Will
the Empire State Games Damage New York City's Bid for the 2012
Olympics?
Troy, New York, June 12, 2003
- In a move that may jeopardize New York
City's bid for the 2012 Olympics as well as undercut the
dreams of
Olympic
hopefuls, the Empire State Games has dropped all Olympic-style
shooting
events from the 2003 roster. Part of the Games since their
inception, and
a
springboard for New Yorkers who have Olympic aspirations,
all shooting
events have been summarily deleted for no apparent valid
reason.
Ironically, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's
office recently
contacted
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association President
Tom King with a
request
for help in winning the City's bid for the Olympics.
Says Mr. King: "In the middle of all of this
I received a call from
Mayor
Bloomberg's office asking me to draft a letter to the Olympic
Committee
explaining how friendly to the shooting sports New York
State is. That's
a
letter I clearly cannot write at this point."
In addition
to sending a poor message to the Olympic committee, deletion
of
the shooting sports can quash the dreams of New Yorkers
who have trained
for
years for the chance to become Olympians. New Yorkers like
Thrine Kane,
a
past participant in the Empire Games who went on to become
a member of
the
2000 US Olympic Shooting Team. For her performance in the
1998 Empire
Games, Ms. Kane was named Athlete of the Year in New York
State, as well
as
National Athlete of the Year by the National Congress of
State Games.
Such
recognition is not easy to come by, but the Empire State
Games has
traditionally provided a showcase for New York's best athletes,
like Ms.
Kane, to become known on a National level.
At the time, State Parks
Commissioner Bernadette Castro was quoted as
saying
" Thrine is a wonderful example of the best of New York's
athletes
participating in the Empire State Games. She is among the
young men and
women who excel in both the classroom and on the playing
fields."
Says Mr. King: "It is clear to us that in the
past the Games committee
has
recognized the importance of the sport, as Ms. Kane's awards
attest.
Short-circuiting the Olympic hopes of New Yorkers, especially
at a time
like
this, makes no sense at all."
Traditionally the safest, best
disciplined and well-run events of the
Games,
the shooting events will be sorely missed by those who
have trained all
year, as well as Games staff who every year send cards
thanking
competitors
for the contribution the shooting events make to the success
of the
Games.
"We just don't understand it," says Empire Games
Shooting Chair Chuck
Meyer.
"
The two main reasons we were told the shooting events were
being
dropped
were cost and low participation levels. However, the State
Rifle & Pistol
Association has offered to raise the money to cover the
events, and open
and
scholastic competition has been at the expected participation
level for
the
past several years. Frankly, we feel blind-sided by this
decision."
Adds Mr. King: "It's a real shame. The shooting
sports have been an
integral part of the Games since they began, and now athletes
have
trained
all year for these events just to get shut out without
notice or reason."
The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
will continue to work to
reinstate the shooting sports says Mr. King.
"We need to keep
the shooting events a part of the Games for so many
reasons, not the least of which is to send a message to
the Olympic
Committee that New York is indeed friendly to the shooting
sports. New
York
City badly needs to win their bid for the Olympic Games,
and we will
keep
fighting to help them do just that."
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Dad
who saved son from intruder incarcerated for unregistered gun
Posted: June 11, 2003, © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
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HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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A Brooklyn man who shot and wounded an intruder while defending his
family will spend three days in Rikers Island, the same jail housing
the burglar who terrorized his home, because he owns an unregistered
gun.
Ronald Dixon, a 27-year-old father of two, caught an intruder
rifling through drawers in his son's room early on Dec. 14.
Authorities charged Dixon with illegal possession
of a firearm when they discovered his gun was not legally registered in New York,
a
charge that carries up to a year in prison. When Dixon proved he had
obtained the firearm legally in Florida and tried to register it in New York,
the prosecutors agreed to a charge
of disorderly conduct. Dixon pleaded guilty to the disorderly conduct
charge, which will allow him to do time without carrying a criminal record. Sentencing
is scheduled
for June 27, WINS Radio reports.
The intruder turned out to be Ivan Thompson, a career criminal with
a 14-page rap sheet. Thompson has been arrested 19 times and been
convicted of criminal trespass, burglary and attempted assault. He
currently is on parole until 2004 on burglary charges.
"Clearly [Dixon] was justified in shooting
this burglar, and the burglar is going to get as much jail time as we can get
him," Brooklyn
District Attorney Charles Hynes told the News. But Hynes will not
budge from his tough anti-gun policy. "If you get caught with a gun in Brooklyn, you're going to do jail
time," said Hynes, who has held that stance since taking office
in 1990, when, he says, "Brooklyn was like Dodge City."
Dixon's case has attracted widespread attention and many letters addressed
to Hynes, including this anonymous letter, which sums up the feelings
of many supporters:
"If you were in the same position that Mr.
Dixon was in, I would be willing to wager that you
would also use whatever means you had
on hand to defend your loved ones, as any of us would.
"By
prosecuting Ronald Dixon on spurious charges, you are
sending a very dangerous message to the residents in your jurisdiction:
Defend
your family, go to jail. You are also sending an equally
dangerous message to the criminal element, who would realize
that law-abiding
citizens would now be hesitant to defend themselves for
fear of criminal prosecution, and therefore make prime targets
for violent crime."
A
Jamaican immigrant, Dixon served in the Navy from 1994 to 1997
in weapons ordnance and holds down two computer-related jobs. "I
work seven days a week. I have been doing it for three years, because
I wanted a safe haven for my family," he told the News. "I
thought the house would give me a safe haven. Now I'm thinking if
I didn't buy this house this never would have happened."
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2003
Junior Fishing Derby draws over 300 kids
official hat, hotdog, soda and as many free worms as
they
needed. Families
from all around were able to attend bring their kids.
Now 23 years old, the two time Olympic-shooter
was featured in the July 2003 issue of the 
It
looks like if you get a PA license you can carry in
Florida and Kentucky if the agreements does not limit
the people only to residents of PA.