Paladino leads gun-law protest in Albany

ALBANY -- Led by former Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, hundreds rallied outside a chilly State Capitol Tuesday to call for repealing the state's new comprehensive gun-control law.

Sporting signs that called Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo a traitor and demanded his impeachment, the protesters called the new law a "gun grab" and chanted, at one point, "We will not comply," apparently referring to new limits on ammunition clips and new registration requirements. One speaker said New York's gun law "comes from the United Nations."

They also bashed State Senate co-leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Republicans who supported the new law.

"It's not about shooting deer," Paladino told a crowd that gathered outside the Capitol. "It's about rights we have that we are not going to give up."

Paladino's remarks referenced Cuomo's justification that owners of semiautomatic weapons didn't need 10-round magazines to hunt deer. The new law limits magazines to seven bullets, tightens the state ban on assault weapons, strengthens penalties on illegal guns and requires owners of assault weapons grandfathered by the new law to register them.

Paladino acknowledged that it's highly unlikely the legislature would repeal the lawand that opponents' best chances rest with the courts. He said he was mulling action -- four groups have already filed a notice to sue.

Inside the Capitol, several dozen members of One Million Moms for Gun Control gathered to praise Cuomo and legislators for the new law.

Paladino, who lost in a landslide to Cuomo in 2010, also bashed Senate Republicans for supporting the gun law, saying they "forgot their values, forgot where they came from."

He was critical of Skelos for not blocking Cuomo's initiative. Paladino said Skelos should resign and "find a new vocation."

"We're not going to comment on any statements from a failed former gubernatorial candidate looking to extend his 15 minutes of fame, especially one who has received millions of dollars in tax breaks from the same state government he so often criticizes," Skelos spokesman Scott Reif replied, referring to a campaign criticism of Paladino.

Several Republican legislators who opposed the gun bill attended the rally. But no senator agreed with Paladino in regards to Skelos -- in fact, they praised changes Skelos negotiated in the law. They said the problem for conservatives is that the GOP lost control of the Senate last fall; 30 Republicans now share control in a "majority coalition" with six breakaway Democrats.

"Dean Skelos has navigated us through very tough times and we have to make sure we have a much larger majority so bills like this can't come to the floor," Sen. Greg Ball (R-Patterson) told YNN, a cable news network.