Tioga County District Attorney candidate Kirk Martin denounced the New York SAFE Act on Thursday. Martin says the SAFE Act is restrictive of Constitutionally-guaranteed rights. He believes Governor Cuomo passing the legislation has actually made New York less safe, by diverting law enforcement attention and resources away from the community by overloading them with paperwork. Martin cited statistics from the FBI in New York which showed that in 2011, five homicides were committed by rifle, as opposed to 160 with knives and 143 with blunt objects. One of Martin’s first actions if he were to be elected as District Attorney would be to write to Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders to demand they repeal the law. Martin announced his Republican candidacy for Tioga County District Attorney last month. Adam Schumacher has also announced his candidacy for District Attorney. Irene Graven will also reportedly be a candidate. The four-year term for DA will be decided this fall, the office is currently vacant following former DA’s Gerald Keene’s election as Tioga County Judge.
