The SAFE Act remains a divisive issue in New York state three years after its passage.

That is evident by the number of lawn signs one can see pushing for repeal of the controversial law. Many credit Rob Astorino’s stance on the SAFE Act and the Common Core State Standards for his strong showing in rural counties in his November election challenge to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a sure sign that many voters haven’t gotten over the rotten smell of the way the SAFE Act was passed and the arbitrary nature of some of the bill’s provisions. The naming of a new state Senate majority leader placed the SAFE Act back on center stage – and it is as divisive as ever.

On Wednesday, The Buffalo News interviewed John Flanagan, a Long Island Republican who was chosen to serve as majority leader in the wake of Dean Skelos’ resignation on corruption charges. Flanagan said he is open to changing the SAFE Act, even though he was among the few Republican senators who voted for the law in 2013.

“Fundamentally, I think there are changes we can advance. Do I expect lofty praise and support from the Assembly and executive? Not really, but that should not for a moment dissuade us,” Flanagan told Tom Precious, the News’ statehouse reporter.

It is a mature and reasonable response. Flanagan knows quite well there is no appetite in the Democrat-controlled state Assembly or by Cuomo to repeal the SAFE Act. It will, after all, be hard enough to convince Cuomo or the Assembly to change the law. Flanagan’s acknowledgement of the wishes of Republicans throughout the state, even though it contradicts his past vote on the matter, should have been good news for gun rights advocates.

It wasn’t. The National Rifle Association’s New York chapter has blasted the choice of Flanagan and is spewing hellfire and brimstone to any Upstate senator who supported Flanagan over John DeFrancisco, a Syracuse-area Republican who wants to repeal the SAFE Act.

Perhaps the NRA and repeal-minded senators need to be reminded of the lunacy of the GOP’s response to the Affordable Care Act and apply those lessons to the SAFE Act. Republicans voted more than 50 times over five years to repeal Obamacare. Where did it get them? Republicans have wasted five years trying to repeal Obamacare. They have talked themselves dizzy about ways to work around the law. It’s gotten them nowhere.

SAFE Act repeal legislation is nothing more than a waste of time. Yelling and screaming for repeal of the SAFE Act is nothing more than a waste of breath. Two years of ranting and raving over the SAFE Act couldn’t even deliver the Republicans the governor’s mansion last November. Cuomo’s re-election, if anything, has emboldened the governor and the Assembly on the SAFE Act. Repeal isn’t going to happen.

Flanagan and senators who want to see changes to the bill should take an alternative course. A debate over the SAFE Act is a waste. A debate over ways to improve the SAFE Act is a better use of time. Flanagan himself suggested two provisions he’d like to change – restrictions to the gifting of certain guns to family members and the notorious ban on loading more than seven bullets into a gun’s magazine.

Those are good places for the Senate to start.