Over 2,000 individual outdoor sports enthusiasts attended the event which featured a keynote speech by National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Director Wayne LaPierre.

“For too long the constitutional rights of law-abiding New Yorkers have been stifled by an out-of-touch legislature. I’m standing here today, with thousands of others, to demand Albany respect our Second Amendment rights. Albany should be protecting the public with laws that have a proven capacity to stop crime, not infringing on firearm owners’ rights. The New Yorkers here today are fed up with their rights being trampled,” said Ball, who was previously the NRA/New York State Rifle and Pistol Association’s Legislator and Freshman Legislator of the Year as well as the recipient of the National Shooting Sports Federation Legislator of the Year award, a national honor.

Local sportsmen’s groups from the 99th Assembly District were among those in attendance, including Northern Westchester Sportsmen, Putnam County Fish and Game, and Kent Rod and Gun.

“I was very happy to see such a large number of Putnam county residents at today’s well-attended event,” said Town of Kent Councilman and member of the Kent Rod and Gun Club John Greene. “There was a common message throughout the day – that now is the time for all sportsmen and sportswomen in New York to join together and be politically proactive. We need to let Albany know that it is time to stop interfering with the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens and start focusing on keeping the people that commit crimes with illegal guns behind bars.”

In addition to protecting Second Amendment rights, the event was developed to highlight the important economic impact of this mainly upstate industry. In fact, with over 1.2 million sportsmen and women in the state, this industry contributes more than $6 billion to the State’s annual economy. The event was not limited to hunting and fishing, with groups such as 4-H and snowmobile and ATV clubs sending representatives as well.