VIDEO: Anti-gun Poughkeepsie Councilman loses control, tells community member to “shut up”
On June 15, Councilman Joseph Rich blew his top during a meeting of the Common Council for the City of Poughkeepsie, New York, following a presentation on the Proposed Ordinance for Mandatory Storage of Firearms: The Negative Impact Upon Lawful Resident Gun Owners by a Poughkeepsie resident and Christopher Zalenski, the president of the local chapter of the Shooter’s Committee on Political Education (SCOPE).
Visibly agitated, Councilman Rich said, “I’ve been here since 5 p.m. listening to people….I’m against the use of firearms, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have them around. I just wonder why it is that you have to come here…and want to talk to us. Why can’t you go to the state?”
“I know why you’re doing this,” he continued, “you don’t want us to have a law…that would cause you a lot of trouble out there, because a successful law…might go to other places…maybe even the state Senate and Assembly….you don’t love this city. You just don’t want us to have a successful law!”
After an interjection by a community member, the liberal councilman completely loses control, yelling for the individual to “shut up” and resorting to insults against other members of the audience.
To his left, Council Chairman Christopher Petsas can be seen laughing, clearly amused by the outburst, until Rich directly engages the audience in argument.
Watch the outburst in the video below:
