Tioga County Sheriff Gary Howard is trying to infringe upon my 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. Despite having no criminal convictions (or anything else that prohibits me from possessing firearms), Howard has requested through a letter to various Judges that my application for a New York state pistol permit be denied. This letter was obtained by me several months ago through a FOIL request.

Howard's reasons for requesting the denial involve what he believes to be a lack of "good moral character." He cites "negative complaints" (but never says what they are) along with "disturbing" prank phone calls to C-SPAN that I have uploaded to my YouTube channel. The notion that alleged/unspecified complaints along with 1st Amendment protected speech to a call-in show should be grounds for denying a constitutional right is obscene to say the least.

However, Howard's vile disregard for the Constitution should come as no surprise. As early as last year, Howard was sued for violating the Constitutional rights of his own former undersheriff, a man named Wayne Moulton. According to WBNG-TV, "Moulton was awarded $2 million in damages, $1.5 million for economic damages and $500,00 for non-economic damages."

As of today, three New York Judges (Adam Schumacher, Mark Young, and Frank Revoir) have recused themselves from reviewing my application, quite possibly due to Howard's letter. Currently, a Delaware County Judge named John L. Hubbard has been assigned to make a decision. What he ultimately plans to do remains to be seen.

Regardless of the outcome, this situation is a very clear case of a right being delayed, which is arguably no different from a right being denied. Howard's actions could likely result in my permit being rejected entirely. If that happens, it would be a direct violation of the Supreme Court's NYSRPA v. Bruen decision, and I would have grounds to file what is known as an Article 78 Proceeding. Unfortunately, hiring an attorney to file a lawsuit of any kind can be extremely expensive, so I am asking for your help with donations to cover my legal fees. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and God bless.