NATION IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Cuomo Rival Urges Armed Vigilantes

Maverick New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Pierre Rinfret called for armed vigilantes to fight crime in New York City. Aides said the economist envisions a volunteer corps of up to 100,000 police-trained vigilantes carrying concealed weapons. The result, Rinfret said in Albany, would be that, when a mugger contemplates robbing someone, he will have to consider whether there is a vigilante nearby who might shoot him. A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Mario M. Cuomo dismissed the plan as absurd. Rinfret is trailing Cuomo badly in the polls and has been getting little financial support from GOP leaders.