After Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told Newsday that she and her husband keep two rifles under their bed in their upstate home, the newly appointed Senator has decided to move the rifles. Her spokesman Matt Canter told Newsday, "Given that the location of the guns has been disclosed, they have been moved for security reasons."
Critics had questioned why the rifles, which Gillibrand implied were there for her and her husband to use to protect themselves, were under the bed, which may be accessible to children and where robbers tend to look first. Canter also told Newsday that Gillibrand "kept the ammunition separate from the empty guns," and then "later called to add that the rifles were locked in a case while stored under the bed." The NY State Rifle & Pistol Association president Tom King spoke to the Times Union: He said that "while gun storage is a matter for the individual owner to decide, 'I'm a firm believer that firearms should be stored safely so that children can't get at them.'" And another King—Rep. Peter King, who may seek to be Gillibrand's Republican challenger in 2010—joked to Newsday, "With Kirsten Gillibrand keeping two rifles under the bed and Chuck Schumer being so anti-gun, Schumer and Gillibrand have to be the Senate's oddest couple."
The New Yorkers Against Gun Violence will hold a rally at City Hall on Thursday to ask Gillibrand to pass three gun control bills. And Politico wonders why Gillibrand, who claims not to be a hunter, got a Montana hunting license.
