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���������� Note: Yesterday, the GOP’s candidate for NYS Governor presented an oft repeated response these days that looks at fatal tragedies at the hands of people with mental illnesses as purely a mental health issue and not also a gun control issue. There are strong feelings on both sides of the issue: see yesterday’s Salon piece, “Elliot Rodger and the NRA Myth: How the Gun Lobby Scapegoats Mental Illness”

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���������� has been very closely involved in this national debate, including participation at countless meetings with advocates, legislators and legislative staff about the 2 major pieces of major federal mental health legislation that have been sponsored by Congressmen Tim Murphy and Ron Barber. We’ll be issuing a number of postings next week that will include some research and a call to action. Stay tuned!

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Rob Astorino: California Massacre Shows Need For Stronger Mental Health Laws, Not More Gun Regs

By Glenn Blain���� ���������� Daily News Wednesday, May 28, 2014

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Last week’s shooting spree that left seven people dead in Santa Barbara, Calif. has not caused Republican Rob Astorino to change his opposition to ����������’s new gun law.

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Astorino, the GOP’s candidate for governor and a vocal critic of Gov. Cuomo’s SAFE Act, said the rampage by former college student Elliot Rodger demonstrates the need for a stronger mental health system not tougher gun laws.

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“Government failed,” Astorino said during a Q&A with reporters at the Capitol. “Here you had a person who is mentally unstable. Clearly this young boy had problems and yet the system failed him. That’s the issue here. No matter how many people legally have their guns and are mentally fit to have them and are good decent citizens, that would not have changed that situation here.”

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Astorino, who has openly courted gun rights advocates as part of his campaign, said “he has no problem” with provisions of Cuomo’s SAFE Act that strengthen reporting requirements for mental health professionals but still feels the law should be repealed.

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“I would repeal it and put a law in if we needed to that went after the real issue, and that would be bolstering the mental health in this state and the finds that go to that,” Astorino said.

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During his wide-ranging session with reporters, Astorino, the Westchester County executive, also called on Cuomo to publicly detail his involvement with his now shuttered Moreland Commission.

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“First and foremost, the governor needs to directly answer questions now to the people of ���������� on what it is he knew, what role he and or members of his staff had in this commission, whether or not they did direct subpoenas to be quashed, steer the investigation away from potential donors or staff,” Astorino said. “Those are questions he has not answered and he now has to answer those. We should not have to have a U.S. Attorney’s investigation to find out the answers to these questions.”

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Astorino also said he was ready to debate Cuomo “every day from here on in,” but stressed he would only take part in one-on-one debates with the governor.

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“The only way that we are going to have an honest debate is with the two major party candidates,” Astorino said. “One of us is going to win period. ..And it hink the people have a right to know from us what we stand on.”

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Astorino’s visit to the Capitol came barely two hours after his campaign released a new video calling for term limits for state officials and members of the Legislature.

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