The National Rifle Association’s field representative for New York was barred from having guns after an altercation with his wife in 2010, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.
Richard D’Alauro was charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child and a noncriminal harassment charge, the report said. He pleaded guilty to the harassment charge. Police at the time confiscated dozens of guns from D’Alauro’s home on Long Island, according to the report.
NY Daily News reports, “At the time, the police confiscated a whopping 39 pistols, shotguns and rifles that D’Alauro kept in the couple’s East Northport, L.I., home.”
The NRA official pleaded guilty Oct. 3 to the harassment charge, admitting to Suffolk County Court Judge Toni Bean that he intended to “harass, annoy or alarm” his wife “by subjecting her to physical contact,” a transcript of the proceedings show.
The judge continued an order of protection against D’Alauro for one year, banning him from owning or purchasing firearms until Oct. 3, 2013. At that time, D’Alauro, who is 62, will be allowed to rearm, and the police will be required to return his guns — a prospect his former wife says she finds terrifying.
In an interview, Maribeth D’Alauro — who has multiple sclerosis and walks with a cane — declined to detail the confrontation with her former husband, but she said that assault “is an accurate description.”
She said she suffered from “years of domestic violence” but was “too afraid to ever call the police on him.”
“I’m finally able to talk about things I wasn’t able to talk about,” she said.
For the National Rifle Association, the idea that their NY rep is a dangerous nut banned from owning guns is no biggie. D’Alauro’s attorney John Ray says it’s of “no significance whatsoever” and tells us “The NRA does not require its employees to own guns.” Or, apparently, to actually be responsible gun owners if they do.
And that’s the rub here. D’Alauro makes his living lecturing everyone on gun control and how it’ll only hurt “responsible gun owners.” But it turns out he has no earthly idea what responsible gun ownership actually entails.This is just another reminder that no one calls themselves an irresponsible gun owner — just like no one calls themselves a reckless driver — despite the fact that there are plenty out there. Just because someone claims to be a responsible gun owner, it doesn’t mean the description is accurate.
So the next time some clown starts lecturing you about how gun control will only “punish responsible gun owners,” go ahead and take that with a great big rock of salt. There’s a good chance they have no idea what the hell they’re talking about.
