Westchester County Center, in White Plains, frequently
used for a variety of events, is scheduled to host an
upcoming gun show
WHITE PLAINS – Members of two committees of the Westchester County Board of Legislators have voted to place a measure on the floor of the full legislature next week that would ban gun shows from county property.
Labor, Parks, Planning and Housing Committee and Public Safety Committee members voted to back the proposal at a lengthy joint meeting on Tuesday.
Legislator Virginia Perez said her life was forever altered when her younger brother, Martin, was shot and killed in the stairwell of a public housing building in Yonkers while working as a food deliveryman 10 years ago.
“Every time I hear about somebody else falling victim to a senseless
act of violence, random shooting and whatnot, no one knows how the family
feels like I and my family feel. I can tell you that it is a private hell
that has no remedy,” Perez said.
Legislator Lyndon Williams also supports prohibiting gun shows from county property and said that would not infringe on a person’s Second Amendment rights.
“You can protect the person’s right to bear arms without at the same time, proliferating, or promoting or adding to the proliferation of guns, especially in situations where they are uncontrollable in urban communities,” he said.
There is a gun show scheduled at the County Center in the coming weeks. From 1999 to 2010, a ban was in place at that facility, but County Executive Robert Astorino lifted it when he took office and a gun show was held in 2012. Another gun show was cancelled following the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Legislator Ben Boykin, chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Social Services, said law enforcement has stated that gun shows are the “Critical moment” of custody when guns are transferred from the local to illegal market.
