Government Briefs 10.12.17
East Hampton Town
Hamlet Studies
First-draft plans for the future of the commercial centers of each of East Hampton’s hamlets are being revised by consultants engaged by East Hampton Town, and those who would like to make a suggestion or comment have been advised to do so now, before the process is completed.
Messages to the consultants, Dodson and Flinker with RKG Associates, L.K. McLean Associates, and Fine Arts and Sciences, can be sent by email to [email protected].
The drafted plans for East Hampton, Amagansett, Wainscott, Montauk, and Springs, along with a business and economic study report, can be viewed on the town’s website, ehamptonny.gov, by searching for “hamlet study.”
Final drafts are expected to be presented to the town board and the public by the end of next month or in December. J.P.
New York State
Legislation to Outlaw Bump Stocks
In the wake of the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas in which 58 people were killed and more than 500 wounded at an outdoor music festival, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. is cosponsoring legislation that would outlaw a trigger crank, a bump-fire device, or any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory designed to accelerate a semiautomatic rifle’s rate of fire to approximate the operation of a machine gun.
A “bump stock” replaces a rifle’s standard stock, the part held against the shoulder. It frees the weapon to slide back and forth rapidly, harnessing the energy from the kickback shooters feel when the weapon fires. The stock “bumps” back and forth between the shooter’s shoulder and trigger finger, causing the rifle to fire rapidly and repeatedly.
The bump stock is not banned under federal law. It is illegal for private citizens to possess fully automatic firearms manufactured after May 19, 1986; ownership of earlier models requires a federal license.
“The tragedy in Las Vegas clearly points to a flaw in both state and federal firearms laws,” Mr. Thiele said in a statement. “The possession of a machine gun by a civilian has been prohibited in the United States for nearly 100 years. There is no valid reason that any citizen needs to possess the functional equivalent of a machine gun or automatic weapon. I urge both Albany and Washington to correct this flaw immediately.”