New York state has passed the most restrictive gun laws in this nations history. People are excited about it and praise it as a great accomplishment. I’ve even people comment “Amen” and post the new control measures. Because I have read so much support and come to an understanding of the reasons why gun control is a good thing, I now purpose we have religious controls. This cannot wait and should be speed through the Assembly and Senate.

Why does anyone need more than one bible? Why should anyone have more than 10 devotional and/or other religious books? Isn’t the bible enough as a single book?

I have done Gov. Andrew Cuomo a favor and slightly modified his words on gun control in the State of the State so he doesn’t have to waste any time preparing a statement.

In the area of public safety — religious violence — has been on a rampage as we know firsthand and we know painfully. We must stop the madness, my friends. And in one word it is just enough. It has been enough. We need a religious policy in this state that is reasonable, that is balanced, that is measured. We respect clergy and believers. This is not taking away people’s bibles. I own a bible.. I’ve read it, I’ve even prayed. That’s not what this is about. It is about ending the unnecessary risk of large quantities of religious material. That’s what this is about.

When it comes to government reform, we all believe in government. But for government to be effective, we must be trusted and the more we’re trusted the more effective we are because it’s all about the relationship that we have with the citizens of this state.

I know, I know that the issue of religious control is hard, I know it’s political, I know it’s controversial. But we are proposing today common sense measures. And I say to you forget the extremists. It’s simple, no one needs ten devotionals to save a soul. End the madness now. Pass safe, reasonable religious control in the State of New York. Make this state safer. Save lives. Set an example for the rest of the nation. Let them look at New York and say this is what you can do and this is what you should do. This is New York, the “Progressive Capital.” You show them how we lead. We can do it. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.

Supporting gun control is supporting religious control. And that’s just a MATTer of fact.

You may hear extremists talk about the 1st amendment but ignore them they aren’t sensible. If they never were planning on falsely yelling fire in the first place they wouldn’t be upset about the new legislation. How many more must die before our government takes notice and does something to protect us, especially the children. We need universal background checks on anyone starting a blog, commenting on facebook or going out in public. The power they hold to falsely identify danger, cause a panic resulting in the deaths of others is not a risk any reasonable person can deny. All blogs, social media accounts and emails should be  registered through the government with strict background checks before the blog is allowed to go live. This is fair and sensible and needs to be done to protect our children from harm.

Further more due to the raising use of cell phones to detonate explosives I’d like to see certain cell phones banned and a limit on the amount of minutes allowed  on a phone. Terrorists and other extremists use cell phones to detonate bombs killing innocents all too often in our world. If we can remove cell phones from the world, obviously we will have less attacks. While cell phones are convenient there is no need for them. We can and have previously lived our lives with out them and for the safety of all of us the time has come to finally have legislation banning these instruments that can cause wide spread pain and kill hundreds of innocents.

If we remove cell phones no one will be tempted to create a bomb to kill people it is that simple. To further support the need for a cell phone ban one can just look to the internet and readily find how easily it is to modify a cell phone into a detonation device. Again ignore the extremists we are talking about safety and the lives of innocent children here. Back in 2003 the FBI released information warning law enforcement officials about the use of cell phones and one point made while deciphering all the information was “Due to the large number of consumers who utilize cellphones, law enforcement agencies are at a disadvantage because the use of cell phones are so common, especially in public areas. With some cellphones being built with remote capabilities such as Bluetooth connectivity, it may be impossible for law enforcement officials to distinguish between regular cellphones and those which could be used to detonate explosives remotely.” This problem is real and needs to addressed. We have waited too long.

These propositions sound ridiculous? I fully agree. Why do these regulations sound horribly wrong when I have shown the damage cell phones and yelling about false danger can cause to our world? These regulations are no different then the gun legislation that Cuomo passed with the proud support of both Democrats and most Republicans in NYS. Why should we punish people before the break the law when it comes to guns but not to other dangers in this world?

Punishing people before they break the law is just ridiculous and that is just a MATTer of fact.

Enough is enough. Stop giving in to needing mental background checks, this is what the opposition wants! Government does not grant rights they are in power to protect the rights of 100% of the citizens and that’s just a MATTer of fact.

The 4th amendment states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” We have the right to be secure in our persons, houses, papers and effects. Officers will say NYS law allows for it, but remember, any law that is unconstitutional is considered null and void from it’s inception, not from the time it is found to be unconstitutional.

Police are not allowed to stop your vehicle simply for driving down a certain road. This is obviously discrimination and no different than an officer stopping a black man simply based on the color of his skin. A checkpoint stops everyone in a vehicle, simply based on the fact they are driving a vehicle and on a certain road. If you did not drive down this road you would not be stopped, therefore they are discriminating against all people who drive on that road. This is a violation of an explicitly protected right, not some granted “privilege”. How then do we allow something like safety check points which so clearly violate our rights as people? Many talk about the Constitution yet few will actually do anything to protect it. It’s time we all start taking these things more seriously and acting on our rhetoric.

I always use checkpoints as a way to inform police that they are violating the oath they took, and are willing participants in the government attempting to strip rights away from the people. I will not comply with certain demands officers make, as they have no right to make them. Sure this has caused me to spend a little extra time as they hassle me, try to intimidate me or take me out of the vehicle, but in the end I have never received a ticket nor been arrested for standing up and asserting these basic rights. I wish more people would start to refuse to comply at checkpoints, because those who do comply are also willing participants in the slippery slope of a police state.

People have told me that I’m just trying to cause trouble and that I should simply talk to them quickly and move along. “Why waste your time?”, they say. And my personal favorite, “Matt if you’re not doing anything wrong what do you care?”. These statements honestly make me sick to my stomach. Why do I care? I care about my son’s future living in America and I care about the birthrights of my fellow citizens. It is my duty as an American to refuse to comply and to attempt to educate officers when they are violating their own oath. Imagine if our Founding Fathers were just great speakers and didn’t actually believe or follow through with anything they spoke about. Do you think we would have ever become the greatest nation in history with that kind of attitude?

Recently at a suspicion-less, sobriety checkpoint in Perth, New York I was removed from the vehicle. I was removed for saying “you have no right to stop our vehicle and you are violating the Constitution.” Now this NYS Trooper was an angry person, and started screaming at me. I, confident in my rights, never needed to raise my voice as when you are speaking facts you don’t need to use intimidation. She demanded I show her identification and I refused as I was not the driver of the vehicle and last I knew Perth, NY was not Nazi Germany. In America, you are not required to carry papers to simply travel freely. I was removed from the vehicle and soon another two officers joined in the attempted intimidation. They demanded I comply with a whole series of demands and questioning. Instead of answering the questions the way they were pushing me, I answered with passages from the Constitution. I in turn questioned them about the oath they swore, and specifically if they thought a checkpoint violates the 4th amendment. The female trooper who originally removed me from the vehicle kept demanding that I show identification, yet I refused. I gave her my name and date of birth, which is all that is required of a non-driver in NYS. She was upset and continually screaming, but when I brought up the fact that I had identified myself, one of the other officers told her I was correct. In fact he said “one thing for sure is you have studied your rights.” Soon after, I was allowed back into the vehicle and we were released from detainment without any form of ticket or citation.
Honestly, I would love to just drive to my destination. However, as an American who really does care about freedom, I at times must set aside my own convenience. I consider it time well spent time and the risk of confrontation worth it in an attempt to help save our rights. If more people would stand up and believe in the Constitution it would not take long for us to abolish these unconstitutional suspicion-less check points.

I encourage everyone who has taken the time to read this pledge to make a pledge. Pledge to never willingly allow your natural rights to be violated. If you have any questions, concerns, or need any help with what to read and study so that you can be informed when you challenge these checkpoints, feel free to contact me.

For more on how to deal with police, visit Flex Your Rights a very informative website. They have a wide range of topics and videos that can help you start to know your rights and why they are important. Also you can always contact your local American Civil Liberties Union and ask them questions in regards to traffic stops.

Remember, all traffic checkpoints are unconstitutional and that is just a MATTer of fact.

There are 11 states which do not allow this suspicion-less unconstitutional check points. (Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.) Will you help me make New York State the 12th?

In the last few days we’ve all been hearing about the largest drug bust ever in Amsterdam. They arrested adults, took children, seized property, guns and drugs. Now I am not going to debate whether or not drugs are “bad” or if children should be raised in this dangerous environment. The more important and fundamental question to ask is “why is this environment so dangerous?”

The police chief says with decriminalizing marijuana people are becoming more relaxed about drugs and they are becoming less significant in the people’s eyes. I believe he is right, but he is saying it as if this is a bad thing.
I propose that our “strict” drug laws and the war on drugs make the situation much more dangerous. Prohibition did not stop people from drinking alcohol in the 30′s. Instead, it caused more alcohol related deaths because all production was forced into secrecy and the black market. Prohibition also causes prices to increase, as there are dangers to the manufacturer and the seller. More risk equals more profit. Limiting the supply through prohibition (of anything) automatically increases the price as well. Drug prohibition creates a potential for massive profits for drug suppliers and dealers.

The black market also lacks a stable system of contracts and obviously lawful enforcement of said contracts. Due to the profit potential and lack of peaceful contracts, a hostile working environment is created. Suppliers and dealers are forced to operate with the cloak of secrecy with the promises of large amounts of cash, but nothing outside their own violent force to protect themselves. When another dealer or supplier comes into their target market, violence ensues. Violence is all that works to keep drug dealers in power and making profit, no different than the violence during alcohol prohibition. Violence, guns and knives become the problem solvers, as a dealer can not file a lawsuit for someone selling on “his corner.”

Now if a Price Chopper salesman goes into a Walmart super center and starts selling his own produce what happens? Well, the police are called and there are legal ramifications. After all Walmart built the building, advertised its location and created hype about visiting their produce department. These legal protections are not available to the drug dealer. The government has forced him to sell on the streets as they cannot have a commercial space advertising drugs. The street corner is where the government forces him to do business, then he spends time developing a market, advertising the product and creating hype about his corner. So when a new dealer comes in it is similar to Price Chopper selling its products in the middle of Walmart, the biggest difference is the only means to defend his business is through violence.

Prohibition makes drugs have their own type of sex appeal, and sex sells! Education about the poor effects, injuries and long lasting damage to oneself would curb drug appeal as opposed to enhancing it with prohibition. Just look at what all the educational down your throat marketing about the bad effects of cigarettes have down to the smoking rate in our country. (Sure we could argue that the marketing demonizes the person and not the smoke but that’s a whole different topic.) Ending the drug prohibition would cause violence to decrease dramatically, immediately. No longer would it be something you could only sell with the drug cartels approval and permission. It would open up the markets and allow disputes to be settled through legal actions rather than violence and take away the vast amounts of power that drug cartels currently have.

End of story Prohibition doesn’t work, and that’s just a MATTer of Fact.

Gay Marriage isn’t the issue at Liberty Ridge Farm. With the recent news that Liberty Ridge Farm passed on allowing a marriage to take place at their farm because the couple was gay all the attention is focusing on gay marriage. Instead I feel like we should take a deeper look into private property rights, but I know there are too many emotions on both sides to actually be hopeful that property rights would be brought up on a serious level on this issue in the media.

Now one must be able to step back and from the hype for a minute and really look at the issue. Remember you can defend someone’s right to make a choice while not defending the choice itself. Private property rights are vitally important because ultimately they protect us from the government. As a business (private property) you have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time. And yes this includes sexual orientation, color of skin, religion or even your hair color. Now a free market would solve this issue as if you did not like the businesses practices you are free to bring your dollars elsewhere.

Instead the immediate reaction I’ve seen is: this is illegal, this is discrimination, they should be shut down, gays should be allowed to marry there, etc. Those claiming this is illegal they say is because gays are a “protected class.” I would purpose that the mere fact the legislature passed any law “protecting a class” actually shows that the law makers feel that class is inferior, weak and unable to manage in society with out governments help, which is far worse than refusing a service. The farms decision in no way hurts anyone, sure it hurts some feelings, but it does not actually cause any damage to anyone. You are free to go to another business that is similar with different beliefs if you feel strongly against spending your money at a business that you don’t agree with.

When we start crying out that our laws prevent businesses from refusing gay marriages it is not too far off where the government will decide every one who enters your home and all activities that take place on it. For instance as a gay couple I’d imagine you would not invite a loud mouth bigot into your home while you were having a party with your friends, and if you take all the emotion away from this story and focus on the real story that is what you are asking the government to regulate: your own home and your own decisions.

Matthew Martoccio

Wynantskill

“We can never get a re-creation of community and heal our society without giving our citizens a sense of belonging.”

With in our town of North Greenbush as of the 2000 census we had 11.9% of our population over 65 and living alone. With a total population of 10,805 that equals about 1,285 seniors living alone. With today’s taxes we are hurting our seniors who live on a fixed income and making it continually harder for them to live here. The goal of this program is to help the seniors in North Greenbush with common home maintenance, repairs, lawn work and just going to the grocery store with them who do not have family, friends or other means of maintaining their home. The program is independent citizen volunteers and is not funded at all by any government program. This program was started to not only help our North Greenbush senior citizens but to also help keep our community beautiful and to help restore the feelings in people to help out their fellow man. North Greenbush residents have said time and time again that they enjoy the small town feel that North Greenbush offers; this program is based on the roots of the town coming together. To show seniors that they do matter to us and to help them be less reliant on government programs for help, returning the power and responsibility to the people. This is a great way to make a personal sacrifice of time and talent to help your neighbors and help bring the community together.

I wondered why somebody didn’t do something. Then I realized I am somebody.

Weekend Warriors for North Greenbush is seeking volunteers on Saturdays and Sundays. You can volunteer as little or as much time as you wish. Volunteers need no special skills. We will be mowing lawns, maintaining gardens, painting and/or repairing fences and porches, helping with replacing screens in storm windows, installing and removing window AC units, helping organize, laundry help, painting, cleaning the windows, snow removal along with any other thing our seniors ask us for help with. Contact Matthew Martoccio here and let him know you’re interested and what tools/equipment you are willing to bring with you when you volunteer (ie lawn mower, hedge clippers, saw, etc.)

Weekend Warriors for North Greenbush is seeking those seniors in our area who need help with their home and lawns. We are looking for those who have no one else they can depend on to help them with the things they can’t do themselves. At this time the requirement is that you live in North Greenbush and are 65 or over. You can contact Matthew Martoccio here for information and let him know the help you need.

Matt Martoccio is founder and co-owner of a local Christmas light installation company, The Christmas Guys. He officially started the company in 2009 and brought a “family style” of decorating the the Christmas light installation industry. With an abnormal passion for Christmas lights and decorating the business continues to expand as The Christmas Guys provide fast, friendly and good ol’ fashion service to their clients. This is the Christmas light installation company you heard on Townsquare Media stations “Seize the Deal,” including WGNA, Santa 105.7, ESPN, Crush and Q103. Visit TheChristmasGuy.com for faqs, past projects and contact information.

Matthew Martoccio – The 518′s NY Matt

Matt Martoccio is the operations manager for a popular local interest site The518.org. He can be found writing for the 518.org and also posting on their popular facebook page with nearly 50,000 likes. You know it’s him by his signature “~NY Matt,” well that and his spelling errors.

Matthew Martoccio – Blogger with the Troy Record

Matt Martoccio is proud to have joined the blogging team for the Troy Record. In his DTOM blog he represents a don’t tread on me American with strong views on life, liberty and everything that threatens these principles.

In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his wife and son and is a proud member of the Hendrick Hudson Fish and Game club. He is also is involved in leadership for both the youth and children’s ministry of a local church in Latham, Capital City Church and has also recently started a program called “Weekend Warriors for North Greenbush Seniors,” which is a free program to seniors in the area who need a little help with the things they can’t do themselves any longer. You also may know him by the name “The Goof,” “Leader of the Troop” and/or “NY Matt.”

Matthew Martoccio dancing with his mother.