In Our Opinion...

Judge Nicolai Makes The Right Call

We believe Administrative Judge, Francis Nicolai has made the right call involving a most contentious Westchester matter, the issuance of pistol permits. For many months Deputy County Executive Larry Schwartz,
notorious for his insatiable appetite for power, has been attempting to wrestle control over the pistol permit application process from elected, accountable, County and Supreme Court Judges.

As things currently stand, applicants for handgun permits must first obtain the necessary forms, and submit them, together with the applicable fee to the County Clerk, Tim Idoni. Once received by the Clerk’s Office they are
processed and turned over to the Pistol Permit Unit of the County Department of Public Safety, an agency headed by Commissioner Tom BelFiore, an appointee under the total control of Larry Schwartz.

Ostensibly, the County Police, through their BCI unit, having access to any criminal and/or other information that might reflect negatively upon an applicant’s suitability to carry a handgun, then proceed to make their report, and possible recommendation, to the court assigned the application. Of late, Mr. Schwartz has brought a great deal of acrimony to the process, whining that some judges were supposedly granting permits without getting information from the County Police, and implying that some individuals with criminal records, and others who lied on their applications, might have been granted licenses.

The County Legislature, several months ago, refused to get behind an effort instigated, and heavily lobbied for, by Schwartz, that sought to put a legislative proposal before the State Legislature essentially designed to shift
the decision-making authority over the issuance of the permits from the Judiciary - accountable and appealable - to appointees under the control of the County Executive’s Office, essentially Larry Schwartz.

Judge Nicolai, to his credit, has shown no reluctance to take on Schwartz, stating recently he was considering the establishment of a special “Pistol Licensing Court” which would streamline the whole procedure and create consistency in decision-making. He indicated that he will be speaking with the judges who would be involved.
At issue here are two very fundamental Constitutional guarantees: Firstly, the right of citizens to bear arms under the Second Amendment, which must not be infringed upon, nor fettered by a politically-motivated machinery
the like of which Schwartz has been advocating. And, secondly, the Separation of Powers Doctrine, that would be clearly violated if the authority to issue the permits, historically vested in the Judiciary, were to be usurped
by the Executive.

Again, We applaud Judge Nicolai’s willingness to go toe-to-toe with Larry Schwartz, in defense of both the County, and State Legislatures’ wisdom in leaving the authority to issue pistol permits in the hands of elected judges. We suspect, however, based upon his past performances, that the last moan has not been heard from