This is about the spirit of the law, and the letter of the law.

Namely, some early thoughts on how to obey the letter of the Cuomo gun ban while simultaneously spitting in the face of the spirit of the law and confounding it at every turn.

The first step is realizing what the people behind this law are really after.

The claim that it is a response to the attack at Sandy Hook elementary school is, of course, dishonest. This isn’t about protecting children, it is about exploiting them, and their murder, to advance the political agenda of the Democratic Party.

Democrats want to disarm you because they don’t trust you, and because they don’t respect your rights.

Their ultimate end is to take away your guns. Period. That is the lone and ultimate objective of Democrat “gun control.”

The Cuomo gun ban is intended to 1. Strip you of weapons that could be used in a revolt against an oppressive government, 2. Limit your ability to defend your home and person, 3. Take away your ability to own modern semi-automatic pistols.

How can you defeat those objectives without violating the letter of the law and getting into trouble? How can you be a safe and secure gun owner without going to jail?

Time will answer those questions better, but here are some early ideas.

First, the issue of assault rifles.

If you own an AR15-type rifle, you are required to register it and yourself with the state within a year. That is, if your gun continues to be an “assault weapon” as defined by New York State.

Many ARs can be reconfigured around the ban by the removal of the pistol grip. In California, where a similar ban exists, a product sold by MonsterMan Grips is popular for this purpose. To avoid having to register, you may want to simply consider buying a MonsterMan Grip, swapping out the pistol grip, and creating a rifle that no longer triggers the New York assault weapon definition.

You keep the gun, you don’t have to tell the state, the flag still flies.

The sale of assault rifles has been banned in the state, with the intent of keeping tactical weapons out of the hands of free Americans. If you want a rifle that could be a useful tactical weapon, out think Cuomo’s list.

For example, the Ruger Mini 14, often called a “ranch rifle,” is a very nice firearm that shoots the same round as the AR15 and does so quickly and accurately. It is not designed like a modern infantry rifle, but it is very reminiscent of the infantry rifles of World War II, which seemed in their day to do a pretty good job. It’s not scary looking, but it can lay down fire, and the Democrats in Albany are too stupid to realize that.

Another option would be any of the bolt action rifles of World War I, or the solid and friendly-looking Browning Automatic Rifle.

These are all war guns that are street legal. They lack pizzazz and they don’t look very Hollywood, but great-grandpa got the job done with them, and so can you.

Protecting your home is, thankfully, a simple affair and is best done with a one- or two-gun combination.

First and foremost, a pump shotgun. Twelve gauge is the favorite, but 20 isn’t so bad either. Simple, common, innocuous, and deadly as hell. This versatile gun ought really to be everyone’s first buy. You can hunt deer with it, you can hunt birds with it, you can hunt rabbits with it, you can cut burglars in half with it.

The Cuomo ban will take away the flashier guns, and it will take away some of the bells and whistles, but the good-old pump shotgun is the householder’s best friend and it is just as legal as it has ever been.

The second gun worth having is a simple .22 rifle. Unfortunately, the rotary magazine on the Ruger 10/22 may run afoul of the New York law, but the tube magazine on the Marlin Model 60 – and a bunch of others – is specifically exempted.

The Marlin Model 60 is very accurate, holds 14 or 18 rounds, fires very rapidly, and is fun and inexpensive to shoot. You can plink yourself silly, and in a worst-case scenario it could be an adequate service or self-defense rifle. The same is true of other plentiful, legal and inexpensive .22 rifles.

Were you defending your home from an exterior threat with .22 rifle fire, you could maintain a high rate of fire with a legal tubular magazine by simply having two people and two guns. One fires while the other reloads, swapping when the firing gun empties. It’s an ad hoc procedure, and it might take a bit of practice, but on a really bad day, it would be an option.

The intent of the seven-round magazine limit is, clearly, to take modern semi-automatic pistols out of the hands of New Yorkers. Unless manufacturers or the aftermarket start making seven-round magazines, you will be able to buy a new pistol in New York, but you won’t be able to shoot it.

How to circumvent this rule?

Go old school.

Look at the venerable Model 1911 in 45 ACP. It went to four wars for the United States and remains a popular, reliable and powerful handgun. The design is 100 years old, but the stopping power is second to none.

Those who carry pistols for self-defense can also adapt to the ban by getting in the habit of carrying a couple of extra magazines. Many companies offer devices that let you carry a couple of extra magazines on your belt. That takes your gun from seven rounds to 21, and that equals the biggest pre-ban magazines.

You may also want to think of revolvers.

If you have fewer rounds, you have to hit harder with the rounds you have, and anything with the word “Magnum” in its name is going to hit pretty hard.

Another benefit of revolvers, they don’t jam.

Though the state hasn’t worked out how it will perform background checks on ammunition buyers, or how it will record and track their purchases, being methodical about your bullet purchases can help keep you below their radar.

First, buy a bunch now before their program kicks in.

Later, when they get their Big Brother system in place, buy small and methodical. Maybe a box or two of shells every payday. Split purchases up between you and your spouse. Build up a stock of ammunition for a rainy day.

And if you go driving on vacation out of state, see if you can’t find somebody on the far side of the state line to sell you some rounds in larger quantities.

And stash it all away.

If nothing else, you’ll be saving money by buying ammunition whose price is only going to go up.

The hope of the Cuomo gun banners is to discourage legal gun owners, and make it difficult for them to buy and feed guns.

A person who chooses to obey the letter of the law can still circumvent its spirit.

You can obey it yet still defy it.

These are some ideas how.

When you think of others, pass them along.