Second Amendment Legal Update, March 2026

A monthly update, prepared for the Schuyler County Chapter of S.C.O.P.E. NY, a statewide 501(c)4 organization dedicated to preserving the 2nd Amendment rights for the residents of New York State. For a complete copy of this month’s report, click here.

NYS Officials Announce Interagency Enforcement Actions Against Unlicensed Marijuana Businesses

June 8, 2023,Albany, NY:

Governor Kathy Hochul (on June 8) announced the launch of an interagency initiative to cease the sale of untested cannabis from unlicensed storefronts and trucks. Enforcement officers from the New York State Office of Cannabis Management and Department of Taxation and Finance conducted inspections at storefront businesses not licensed to sell cannabis and issued

Notices of Violation and Orders to Cease Unlicensed Activity, when appropriate. These actions will be replicated across the state to end public sales of untested cannabis by unlicensed businesses. As part of the FY 2024 Budget, Governor Hochul signed critical legislation allowing for these expanded enforcement actions against unlicensed cannabis businesses to take place.

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Governor Hochul signed legislation allowing for enhanced enforcement of unlicensed cannabis businesses as part of the FY 2024 Budget. The legislation allows the Office of Cannabis Management to assess civil penalties against unlicensed cannabis businesses that would undercut their efforts, with fines of up to $20,000 a day for the most egregious conduct. It also makes it a crime to sell cannabis and cannabis products without a license.

As a result of the legislation, the Department of Taxation and Finance can also conduct regulatory inspections of businesses selling cannabis to determine if appropriate taxes have been paid and levy civil penalties in cases where appropriate taxes have not been paid. The legislation also establishes a new tax fraud crime for businesses that willfully fail to collect or remit required cannabis taxes, or knowingly possess for sale any cannabis on which tax was required to be paid but was not.

For more information on the new legislation, click here.

Local leaders call on Gov. Hochul to crack down on ‘sticker stores’

Finger Lakes Daily News

State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats), Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning), and Assemblyman Chris Friend (R,C-Big Flats) on (January 12) joined regional law enforcement representatives and other local leaders to call on Governor Kathy Hochul and the Democrat leaders of the State Legislature to approve legislation and crack down on the proliferation of businesses, commonly known as “sticker stores,” illegally dispensing and selling marijuana throughout the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and statewide.

O’Mara, Palmesano, and Friend currently sponsor legislation (S9365/A9815, Note: This legislation is being reintroduced and will receive new bill numbers for the 2023 legislative session) that, if enacted, would strengthen existing law, outlaw sticker stores, and establish criminal and civil penalties for violators. Any civil penalties collected by the state would be remitted to the county of the violating establishment.

They called on Hochul and the Democrat leaders of the Senate and Assembly to immediately enact the legislation.

In a joint statement, O’Mara, Palmesano, and Friend said, “New York State needs to stop the proliferation of illegal marijuana ‘sticker stores’ throughout the region we represent and statewide. These illegal operations diminish the quality of life and risk the safety of the communities and neighborhoods where they operate. New York State is establishing a legal and appropriately regulated network of adult-use recreational marijuana dispensaries, with all the necessary safeguards. While we opposed the legalization of marijuana from the outset, if it’s going to go forward, it needs to take place under a legally established system with the appropriate oversight. We need to make it clear that these illegal sticker stores cannot operate and that there are criminal and civil consequences for any owners who continue to do so.”

Calling on Hochul to step up state efforts to shut down the illegal operations, including the enactment of the legislation they sponsor, the area state legislators were joined in Watkins Glen today by the following regional law enforcement representatives and local leaders: Schuyler County Sheriff Kevin Rumsey; Schuyler County Administrator Fonda Chronis; Schuyler County District Attorney Joe Fazzary; Schuyler County Attorney Steven Getman; Schuyler County Legislator Phil Barnes; Chemung County Sheriff William Schrom; Chemung County Executive Assistant District Attorney Wayne Witherwax; Chemung County Legislator Bill McCarthy; Steuben County Sheriff James Allard; Steuben County Legislator Hilda Lando; Tioga County Sheriff Gary Howard; Tioga County District Attorney Kirk Martin; Penn Yan Police Chief Thomas Dunham; and Yates County District Attorney Todd Casella.