Gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino appears at gun show

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> When Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino visited the gun show at the City Center Sunday afternoon, he knew how to get the crowd’s attention.

“If I am elected governor, I will repeal the SAFE Act,” Astorino boomed into the mic in his introduction, receiving a hearty response from the gun show visitors who had momentarily paused from browsing the show’s booths to listen to his short speech.

“(Gov. Cuomo) took away your rights, why don’t you take away his job?” was another suggestion popular with the gun show crowd.

The 46-year-old Westchester County executive is not a gun owner, he said, but he has fired guns in the past.

The upcoming election season isn’t going to be a walk in the park for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Astorino told reporters at the gun show, because he won’t be able to avoid issues New Yorkers care about like jobs and taxes, and as far as Astorino is concerned, those are the areas the state needs to make up for.

Cuomo, who has roughly a formidable $33 million in his campaign coffers, has told other news outlets he is waiting until the legislative session ends in June to hit the campaign trail in full.

Astorino won two terms in Westchester County, which has more registered Democrats than Republicans, and said that he succeeded as county executive by cutting taxes and spending, and that he plans “to do that statewide.”

Astorino said Westchester County officials worked with nonprofits, the mental health community, law enforcement, educators and religious groups to address the “real issues and root causes” of gun violence, whereas, he asserts, the SAFE Act is partially unconstitutional and partially unenforceable.

On the subject of Saratoga Springs being home to a full-gaming casino, Astorino said he is “very much in favor of local control” and that “it’s one of the reasons I am absolutely opposed to Common Core.”

Astorino also said there is no way he would consider an Independence Party endorsement.

“The Independence Party in Westchester is corrupt; they stand for nothing,” Astorino said. “If it’s like that in the rest of the state … they should be put out of business.”

First-time candidate Elise Stefanik, who is running in the 21st Congressional District race, was also at the gun show touting her belief that the SAFE Act is unconstitutional.

After the gun show, Stefanik took her booth to the Saratoga-Wilton Elks Lodge, which was packed with people attending an educational forum on the SAFE Act, hosted by NY2A Grassroots Coalition, that addressed questions about the impending April 15 SAFE Act firearm registration deadline.

Lisa Donovan, a NY2A co-founder, said they are informing people of their options and advising them to make decisions that meet their comfort levels, whether it be registering normally, modifying weapons so that they don’t need to be registered or not registering at all.

While the audience listened to rotating speakers, several attendees hovered over a barbecue outside the front doors of the lodge, preparing to burn registration forms for the event’s highlight, aside from the rifle that was set to be raffled off to a lucky winner.

Friday’s announcement from real estate developer Donald J. Trump that he is dropping out of the gubernatorial race had no impact on Astorino’s campaign, he said, but added he planned to speak with Trump following the gun show and hopes he can count on him for support, since they both share a common goal ? unseating Cuomo.

Astorino lives in Mount Pleasant, N.Y., with his wife and three children. He was a radio host and producer for the SiriusXM satellite radio station, Catholic Channel, and helped start ESPN Radio in New York.