White Plains, NY — Last night at the February 5, 2018 meeting of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, the Board voted 12 to 5 along party lines to ban gun shows on County-owned property, with all twelve Democratic legislators voting affirmatively.

Chair of the Board of Legislators, Ben Boykin said, “Westchester County took a big step in moving forward with our progressive legislative agenda by passing our first major piece of legislation of the 2018-2019 Legislative Term that will ban gun shows on County-owned property. Similar legislation, which was passed in January 2017, was vetoed by the previous County Executive. The new legislation is expected to be signed into law by County Executive George Latimer, thereby codifying the Executive Order that he signed on January 5, 2018.”

Legislator Catherine Parker, Majority Leader, directly aimed her comments at the people of Westchester: “Tonight has been an historic night for policy in Westchester. By a vote of 12 to 5 we have passed legislation to prohibit gun shows at your county center and other county-owned property. No longer do Westchester residents have to see sensible gun policy based on who is elected to the executive branch, but now we have legislated a sensible gun law that will withstand the change in political winds.”

Vice Chair and long-term Legislator Alfreda Williams enthusiastically spoke on the floor last night: “I was so delighted that the first official act our new County Executive took was to issue an executive order ensuring that gun shows would not take place on County-owned property, and now, together we are helping to stem the problem of guns in Westchester.”

Democratic lawmakers, from veterans to new first-time legislators, were glad to sponsor and support this historic legislation. Legislators Borgia, Boykin, Kaplowitz, Parker, Perez, Shimsky, Alfreda Williams and Lyndon Williams were all there to pass similar legislation in 2017. Now joined by the four new colleagues, Legislators Barr, Covill, Johnson and Maher, they made sure that this priority was achieved early in the new session.

All twelve Democratic legislators agree, as the new law states, “A ban of gun shows on County-owned property illustrates Westchester County’s commitment to reducing gun violence and protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents.”

Click the following link to read legislation: https://westchestercountyny.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=4&ID=18303