Top Cuomo aide granted waiver after repeatedly breaking NY gun law

Michael Dorstewitz bizpacreview.com A top aide to strict gun-grabbing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been granted a waiver for carrying a firearm at government offices in violation of state law. Cuomo appointed Jerome Hauer to take over the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services in 2011, according to the Albany Times Union. The Albany, N.Y.-based newspaper reported in early January that Hauer used his firearm’s laser sight as a pointer device during a meeting with a delegation of Swedish security professionals — with his loaded 9-mm Glock still attached. People sitting across from Hauer “moved quickly out of the line of the laser when he brought out the gun,” and three of the Swedes “were rattled when the gun’s laser tracked across one of their heads before Hauer found the map of New York, at which he wanted to point,” the Times Union report. The meeting took place on Oct. 24, but the incident didn’t come to light until last month. On Wednesday, the Times Union reported:

Cuomo defended Hauer at a news conference Wednesday. The governor said he’s comfortable with commissioners carrying weapons to work as long as they have gun permits. He qualified the response by adding “if they are licensed and in that field of work.” Hauer is not a law enforcement officer or working in law enforcement, although his official vehicle has emergency lights and sirens. Despite the lack of a waiver before January, several witnesses said he has been carrying a gun on the job since Cuomo appointed him in 2011.

One of the basic rules of firearm safety is to never draw a weapon unless you intend to use it — as a weapon, not as a pointer. to read more: bizpacreview.com