i've had a NYS CW permit since i was 21 years old...
Posted on 09/17/2012 7:07:43 PM PDT by neverdem
Trish Cutler's fashion show at a Hudson firehouse drew dozens of law-abiding women in search of comfortable yet stylish holsters to discreetly carry their handguns — at the workplace or a night on the town. The offerings included holster for a bra and one inside a purse.
Cutler, a target-shooting enthusiast from Claverack who belongs to three local gun clubs, has had her pistol permit for three years. The wife and mother is among growing numbers of women in the rising tide of New Yorkers who have licenses to legally possess handguns.
Long before this summer's mass shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin, pistol-permit approvals around the state and the Capital Region were rising.
Approvals in the four-county region rose from 1,290 to 1,467 from 2008 to 2011. They rose statewide during the same period from 13,325 basic pistol permit approvals to 17,325, according to the State Police.
And more and more, women are in that mix.
Columbia County Clerk Holly Tanner, who herself applied for a pistol permit over the winter, said area clerks are seeing a lot more cases where women get their pistol permits so they can assume ownership of guns after a loved one dies. Tanner said so far this year, 76 of the 218 county residents who applied for pistol permits are women. Last year, 50 of the 168 approvals were for women.
A real estate agent in Schenectady County has been packing her pistol for the past two years while showing homes. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, has had some "uncomfortable situations" and has heard of agents being chased out of two- and multi-family homes where tenants refused to leave.
Schenectady County Surrogate's Court Judge Vincent Versaci estimates that a third of the applicants he sees are women, many of whom like Tanner have taken up shooting as a "sport or hobby" so they can join their boyfriend or spouse at the range.
"It's just socially acceptable for women to be involved in this activity, and it's no longer seen as just a man's sport," said Versaci, licensing officer for his county.
Albany County Clerk Thomas Clingan said one reason pistol-permit applications are up may be anxiety that the Second Amendment right to bear arms might be curtailed.
"There is a school of thought, that at some point in the future, there will be some restrictions, and salesman use that to get people to buy guns," said Clingan, noting that Albany County judges have typically been tougher in issuing unrestricted permits. Those permits allow gun owners to carry a concealed firearm any place it is legally permissible to do so in New York. Basic permits are usually a prerequisite for unrestricted permits.
Selkirk resident Kristy Race grew up around guns; both parents were hunters.
Race, a mother, is also an avid outdoors person, often taking solitary hikes in mountains and remote areas, which inspired her to get her pistol permit for protection in June. The process took 15 months. "Another factor was not wanting to wait until the rules and regulations had changed so much, that I wouldn't be able to obtain one," she said.
In most New York counties, judges are pistol-permit licensing officers while the police commissioner makes the final decision in New York City, Nassau County and half of Suffolk County.
They hold broad discretion on restrictions placed on a person's pistol permit. Some jurists issue unrestricted permits from the start that allow license holders to carry concealed weapons. Others place restrictions on the permits, limiting gun use to hunting and target shooting. No license is required to own shotguns and rifles, but hunting with any weapon requires a permit.
"There has to be a uniformed and reasonable process that everyone should have to conform to," said Versaci.
He overhauled the process after receiving an application from an elderly woman living alone, who wanted to modify her basic restricted permit to an unrestricted one. She had a clean background and no mental health issues but had not handled the gun in years.
"That's when a bell went off in my mind that there has got to be a better way to determine whether a person is granted an unrestricted license," said Versaci. "I felt like I was, pardon the pun, shooting in the dark." He ultimately granted her request.
"I wasn't looking to obstruct people from having the right, but I wasn't looking for it to be easy either," he recalled. "My primary concern is that they exercise good judgment, store their handgun properly and become proficient with the handgun they own and possess. With that comes respect for the firearm, which is a barometer of sorts to gauge what you're capable of, and more importantly, which you are not capable of doing."
Today, Schenectady County residents applying for an unrestricted permit must have a basic permit for a year and then pass a written and shooting proficiency test as part of a mandatory advanced firearms safety class. In addition, they meet face-to-face with Versaci.
"It gives me an opportunity to ask them questions and convey my thoughts about appropriate handgun ownership," said Versaci. "A big part of my job is assessing credibility ... I think looking them in the eye sends home a stronger message than sending them a letter in the mail."
On a Saturday in August, safety and respect for firearms were the focus of a daylong class led by Northeast Firearms Training Instructor John Affinito. It covered issues like different types of bullets, the use of physical force and deadly physical force and storing and transporting guns.
On the firing range at the Woodlawn Sportsmen's Club in Guilderland, Affinito exhorted his students to make safety and visual inspections once their weapons were holstered.
Affinito, who is also the training supervisor for the Schenectady County Sheriff's Office and has been teaching for two decades, reminded his five participants that even with unrestricted permits, churches, malls, and state and federal government buildings remain off-limits for the weapons.
Over the past few months, the national dialogue on guns has been further heightened after 12 people were gunned down inside a Colorado movie theatre and six worshippers of a Sikh temple in Wisconsin were fatally shot by a gunman who also died.
Versaci insists he doesn't allow the mass shootings to cloud his decision.
"I have to base my decision on the facts in front of me and apply the law," said Versaci. "I can't allow the actions of a few to affect the ability of others to possess a handgun and that's why I try to do as much due diligence as possible." Still, he acknowledged the process is not foolproof.
"You can never be 100 percent sure that you're making the right decision but you use all the information at your disposal and you make the best decision possible," said Versaci. "If we don't do our due diligence, then tragedies will happen. Is it ever going to be a perfect system? No."
The Tri-Village Rod & Gun Club in Valatie that Cutler belongs to offers a woman's day at the range every so often. While there, Cutler, who also serves as Columbia County's pistol licensing clerk, said she often overhears lawmen at the gun club talk almost solemnly about the need for the women in their lives to be able to handle a weapon.
"The reality of what's going on is prompting police officers and other men to encourage women to learn how to shoot because they want them to be protected and to feel comfortable with a gun in case they're not around," said Cutler.
Meanwhile, Cutler is teaching her husband to shoot too.
pnelson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5347 • @apaulnelson
Pistol permit applications by the numbers
Pistol permit applicants must generally provide multiple references, undergo a criminal background and mental health evaluation and provide proof of a receipt showing they've made a down payment on a weapon. The application is then reviewed.
The following are the breakdown of the number of pistol permits that were issued every year since 2008. (Counties do not breakout statistics based on gender.)
County 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Rensselaer 230 239 245 247 158 (as of July 31)
Schenectady 186 276 307 323 256 (as of July 31)
Albany 303 317 408 265 240 (as of July 31)
Saratoga 571 652 560 632 395 (as of July 31)
Source: County clerks
Statewide:
Permits issued Permits amended
2008 13,325 73,130
2009 18,577 93,028
2010 19,148 93,483
2011 17,325 84,285
In 2011, 4,857 permits were cancelled or revoked for a host of reasons, including a person being convicted, moving out of state or voluntarily surrendering their license. The amended permits could include everything from adding to removing weapons, issuing a duplicate permit because the original one was lost or a person changed their address.
Source: State Police pistol permit unit
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Pistol-ownership-s-changing-faces-3868682.php#ixzz26mGPd2bs
Yet one more reason to NOT live there.
i've had a NYS CW permit since i was 21 years old...
I don't think that self-defense is a "sport," but the idea of CCW fashion shows is BRILLIANT. My wife would go... maybe even be a volunteer model.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
Any woman who gets off work late at night and has to walk to a car should be armed.
Wonder what the estimate is of the number of people who are carrying pistols illegally?
Any bets that it would be higher than the entire total of current permittees?
I prefer to use means of defense other than firearms, unless it comes to a case of insurrection or civil war... and under those dire circumstances I don’t need a document trail putting a bull’s eye on my back.
Especially in the bigger cities.
A good attitude for you -- but what about an elderly person or a woman, who is less able to defend him or her self by other means?
I myself I am not so far from being elderly, as I would like.
I’m not against guns...my mother has one, a little .38, but no permit. I taught her to use it, and she is a prodigy...Annie Oakley right out of the box. I told her that if she ever has to use it, to throw it right down a storm drain and lie her butt off. But she’s an old Austrian who’s been through WW2, and she does as she damn well pleases.
I myself I am not so far from being elderly, as I would like.
I’m not against guns...my mother has one, a little .38, but no permit. I taught her to use it, and she is a prodigy...Annie Oakley right out of the box. I told her that if she ever has to use it, to throw it right down a storm drain and lie her butt off. But she’s an old Austrian who’s been through WW2, and she does as she damn well pleases.
BIG GRIN HERE!
If they ever put an APB out on her, it would say look for Judge Judy with a short temper and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s accent. I pity the criminal.
83yo (she doesn’t look it), and 2500mi away, if she needs to straighten me out, she can still make me click my heels and say “Jawohl!”
I tell her it’s a good thing the war ended before Hitler could use his secret weapon...and she answers “that’s right” ;^)
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