Ostrowski explains his 2019 court challenges are built on the true purpose of the Second Amendment

JANUARY 18, 2019 – ELMA, N.Y. – The Constitutional Coalition of New York State, a free speech forum focusing on political and Second Amendment rights opinions, welcomed Jim Ostrowski Thursday to their January 2019 membership meeting as a featured speaker. Ostrowski attended the gathering, held at Bravo Cafe & Catering in Elma, N.Y., to discuss the driving purpose and next steps in his court cases against New York State’s unconstitutional gun control regime. Ostrowski’s highly active legal challenges include the following:

• Libertarian Party of Erie County v. Cuomo – This case, expected to be argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals on February 20th, 2019 (one step away from U.S. Supreme Court review), seeks to nullify New York State’s arbitrary pistol permit requirement.

• The People of the State of New York v. Benjamin Wassell – This case, expected to be argued in New York State Supreme Court on February 28th, 2019, seeks to reverse a SAFE Act conviction erroneously applied to a Western New York resident.

“The Second Amendment is about protecting the right of the people to be sovereign over the government, if the government gets out of control,” Attorney Jim Ostrowski said as he outlined the central argument of his court cases. “So, we need it to defend ourselves against the government. And, if you’re not willing to say that, then just give it up because they [government courts] want everybody to think the Second Amendment is about protecting yourself from the highly unlikely event that you’re going to get burglarized at some point in your life. And, therefore, it gets into this small ‘p’ progressive cost-benefit analysis, and the courts will say ‘well, the legislature is the best at evaluating all these studies that are cited in these various briefs against us, and we have to weigh, you know, a kid could get a gun or you could shoot your neighbor, and all this stuff.’ And none of this has anything to do with the Second Amendment.”

Ostrowski went on to explain that, unlike large, politically-constrained gun rights organizations that often avoid highlighting governments’ clear propensity to systematically murder large volumes of their own citizens, he addresses such issues head-on. In his legal briefs, Ostrowski cites the mass domestic slaughters perpetrated by Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, and other infamous dictators as a case-in-point for the critical role played by the Second Amendment in safeguarding American society. He also leverages the fact that such government-manufactured mass murders have not befallen the United States as proof that, to date, the Second Amendment has effectively served its intended purpose.

Ostrowski argued before the group that unconstitutional gun control edicts, like the SAFE Act, exist as a form of emotional therapy for progressives who are unable to cope with a world that is complex and outside their total control. He noted that, in an irrational attempt to create artificial feelings of safety following a mass shooting, progressives often turn to the passage of new, ineffectual gun control legislation to produce a type of security blanket for adults.

“Progressivism is a form of therapy,” Ostrowski said. “So, you have a school shooting and Cuomo gets on and says ‘I’m going to pass the SAFE Act.’ And then all the progressives feel better and they can sleep better at night. It doesn’t accomplish anything whatsoever. It’s not rational. It’s not logical.”

To effectively halt and roll back unconstitutional gun control edicts, Ostrowski says we must understand the irrational mindset of the progressive mobs that impose such ineffectual legislation on law abiding citizens. He notes that truly understanding the progressive mind will assist us in determining how best to halt its growing negative impact on society, which includes gun control.

To learn more or speak with Attorney Jim Ostrowski, contact Steve Felano at (518) 852-1863 or sfelano@2AWNY.com.

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2AWNY is a force multiplier for the numerous Second Amendment civil rights advocacy enterprises forming the backbone of Western New York’s vibrant gun culture. We act as a 2A news and information distribution, policy analysis, and organizational driver for the many interest groups seeking to defend and expand Second Amendment civil rights throughout the region. 2AWNY is dedicated to assisting in the organization, promotion, and funding of legal challenges to the unconstitutional New York State gun control regime. We seek to make Western New York the epicenter of New York State’s Second Amendment civil rights renaissance. Learn more at WWW.2AWNY.COM.