To the Editor:

In a vote held in the state Legislature Monday, Jan. 14, 2013 the Second Amendment Constitutional freedoms of New Yorkers were weakened with passage of restrictive new gun control.

This legislation was rushed through both houses of our state legislature without a single public hearing or the proper time to carefully review the bill.

Law-abiding citizens are not the issue.

Millions of New Yorkers own firearms and do so safely, responsibly and legally. The real issue, the real threat, is dangerous criminals having guns and the seriously mentally ill obtaining access to guns. Law-abiding citizens need to stand up now and sign NYS Senator Kathleen Marchioness Petition to repeal and replace restrictive new gun control measures that will weaken the Second amendment constitutional rights of law-abiding New Yorkers. http://www.nysenate.gov/webform/stand-second-amendment-standing-new-york-state-senator-kathleen-marchione.

As Ron Turbide of Canton suggested in his letter “Russell Failed Voters by Supporting Gun Law,” (Jan. 23-29) make sure you call/write Assembly Member Addie Russell and express your displeasure with her bypassing the will of many of her Constituents concerning this issue.

Ron, you are also right concerning NYS having one of the harshest ANTI- Second Amendment laws in the Nation. It took me six months to obtain a NYS pistol permit; it is easier to obtain a Top Secret clearance in the U.S. Military than procure a pistol permit in

Dean Laubscher, USAF (Ret.), Potsdam