Politicians backing excuse for teen’s shooting death

When you got to go, you got to go, except when APA is in executive session

By Ken Tingley

It has been less than a month since 20-year-old Kaylan Gillis was shot to death for pulling into the wrong driveway in Washington County.

This past week the Codes Committee in the state Senate voted 9-4 against advancing “Stand Your Ground” legislation for a vote before the full Senate.

Sen. Dan Stec is a co-sponsor of the legislation and for all we know he still supports it. He did not respond to a request for comment this past week from The Post-Star.

Assemblyman Matt Simpson, who also supports the legislation, says the law would not have been applicable in the killing of Gillis.

That is just splitting hairs because there is no way to measure someone’s level of fear. Stand Your Ground legislation gives you the right to defend your home and family if you feel threatened.

After Florida passed Stand Your Ground legislation in 2012, George Zimmerman, a Neighborhood Watch volunteer, killed a black teenager who was walking to his father’s house. There was an alleged confrontation and Zimmerman shot and killed the teen. He said he feared for his life. That was the argument for taking a life.

The case is as complicated as it is controversial, but Zimmerman was eventually acquitted of second degree murder while teenager Trayvon Martin remains dead.

Gun owners often say they are armed because they want to protect their home and family.

It is less clear from what.

During my 34 years living in Queensbury and Glens Falls I have never been afraid to walk the streets, even when South Street was an all-night party.

Random violence is almost unheard of.

The home invasions we covered at the newspaper were by drug dealers who had the wrong address.

It raises the questions that all gun owners need to answer.

Would you kill someone stealing tools from your car?

Would you fire at someone for carrying your TV out of your house?

Would you discharge your weapon if you were threatened by a stranger in the driveway?

The Stand Your Ground statutes have lots of gray area. Too much gray area.

There is no need for Stand Your Ground legislation in our quiet towns and villages. We still do not know what the shooter was thinking when he fired on Kaylan Gillis last month.

Did he fear for his life, even mistakingly?

And if Stand Your Ground was the law of the state, that would have given the shooter a defense.

If the goal is to arm everyone, If the intent is for each and every one of us to take responsibility in enforcing the laws, then why do we need a police force?

When Kaylan Gillis was killed, the politicians agreed that action was needed for better cell phone service, not protection from fearful homeowners armed and ready to shoot.

Yet, they both still support Stand Your Ground even if it’s just an excuse for taking someone life.

Reporter locked out

An Adirondack Explorer reporter was locked out of an Adirondack Park Agency meeting last week.

Gwendolyn Craig, who used to be a reporter at The Post-Star covering environmental issues, now works for the Adirondack Explorer, which is published by the Times Union.

Gwen was covering an APA meeting when the board went into executive session, which means it can meet in private. Nothing wrong with that. Government bodies do it all the time to talk about pending litigation and personnel issues.

In this case, the reporters were asked not to leave the room, but to leave the building.

“This is the third time I’ve been locked out of @NYSAPA’s building, along with the rest of the public, while the board meets in executive session,” Gwen tweeted. “In March, Executive Director Barbara Rice said she closed the lobby due to someone repeating executive session info.”

Unfortunately, as sometimes happens - even to reporters - Gwen had to go to the bathroom. She used the phone at the entrance to call in to the board meeting and politely asked if she could be let in to use the rest room.

Gwen videotaped her request in a 16-second video. The reply:  “Like I said, not until the executive session is over.”

The entire APA board owes Gwen Craig an apology along with a policy that provides a plan for using the rest room for any member of the public when the board is in executive session.

Ironically, the APA has been in the spotlight lately because of its lack of transparency and its attempts to curb public comments.

Apparently, it also wants to limit the use of public facilities.

Father-son Pulitzer

Earlier this week I mentioned how John and Ramsey Archibald - father and son - were part of a four-person team at AL.com to win a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.

I urge you read the story on pulitzer.com but you might also want to also check out the interview with the pair on PBS Newshour.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/alabama-reporters-earn-pulitzer-prize-for-uncovering-police-corruption-in-small-town

School budgets

Reminder that if you own property, your biggest tax bill of the year is for school taxes. You have a chance to weigh in on your school district’s budget on Tuesday. Sadly, almost no one votes in school elections.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tax cap has kept school budgets in check over the past decade, but I urge you do your homework anyway so that you are an informed citizen.

The Post-Star in Glens Falls, NY has a long tradition of crunching the numbers for most of the school districts around the region.They re-printed those budget capsules in Sunday’s newspaper.

This is a great reader service that every homeowner should take advantage of.