Pistol permit resolution reveals partisan divide

KINGSTON, N.Y. » In a move Democratic lawmakers decried as an end-run around the ban on memorializing resolutions, Ulster County legislators voted along party lines to throw their support behind state legislation authorizing the county sheriff to serve as a firearms licensing officer.

Republicans said the resolution, which was introduced after the resolution deadline, is a “home rule request,” asking the state Legislature to take specific action in regard to Ulster County, and, as such, doesn’t violate the county’s recently enacted ban on memorializing resolutions.

The change would allow Sheriff Paul Van-Blarcum to issue pistol permits and add new weapons to existing permits. Currently, only judges are permitted to issue and amend pistol permits,

which at times can result in a significant backlog of pending applications.

Although the proposed state legislation has wide bipartisan support within the county, the resolution

approved Tuesday night by a 12-10 vote was seen by Democrats as a political maneuver to get around the ban because, unlike typical home-rule requests, which are always generated by a formal request from the county Legislature, in this instance, members of the state Assembly and Senate already

have introduced the measure and the state legislative session was to end Wednesday.

Memorializing resolutions carry no force of law but allow the county to weigh in on issues decided at other levels of government.

Ulster County Democrats argued the resolution

approved Tuesday was simply supporting legislation already before the state Legislature, and therefore is a memorializing resolution. They also said the GOP majority originally followed the procedure established to weigh in on issues outside of the county’s purview by sending a letter of support for the state legislation.

“It walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck,” said Legislator David Donaldson, D-Kingston. “It’s a memorializing resolution.”

Minority Leader Hector Rodriguez, D-New Paltz, said the GOP has “opened the door” for Democrats to look at all sorts of homerule requests in the future.

Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk said the state measure has passed the Senate in the past but always stalled in the Assembly.

“The purpose of doing a home-rule resolution on this law is to take one more reason off the table for the Assembly not to act on this,” said Ronk, R-Wallkill.