New York’s Democratic Political Leadership, has zeroed in on Gun Violence, as the most pressing Public Safety issue, and has announced a Series of Actions, to stem the tide of Illegal Firearms entering the State.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), joined Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), on Wednesday morning, to announce the formation of the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns.
With Members of the New York Police Department, the State Police, the FBI, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as Law Enforcement Representatives from the other Eight Northeast States, Hochul and Adams. led the First Meeting of a Consortium designed to promote Information Sharing, and Initiate Strategies to Halt the Flow of Illegal Guns.
Adams likened the Multistate Strategic Partnership, which Leverages Relationships with Federal Law Enforcement, to the Strategy New York used to Prevent Terrorist Attacks following 9/11.
“With the governor’s announcement today, it is time for us to use the same abilities we displayed after Sept. 11 to stop the external terrorist threat. We are going to use that with the terror of gun violence that’s sweeping our entire nation,” Adams said. “We must be unified on this threat.”
There is One massive Curveball that could Undo much of the work the Officials are trying to arrange.
The Supreme Court is expected to Rule in May or June, on New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. The Gun Association is arguing that New York’s Concealed-Carry Law, which Limits Unrestricted Possession of Firearms, Violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Richard Aborn, Executive Director of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, described the Court Battle as “the most important gun case in 20 years.” “We have the Supreme Court considering a case that would devastate New York’s concealed-carry law,” Aborn said. “The NRA is arguing the state has no business telling people when and where they can carry a gun. It’s huge.”
Hochul opened Wednesday’s Meeting by issuing an Executive Order that Declared a Gun Violence State of Emergency in New York.
She used Data to Underscore the importance of bringing Law Enforcement and Attorneys General from other States together to Cap the Rise in Gun Violence.
Shooting Incidents are up 49% this year, compared with the same period last year. In New York State, Hochul noted, Firearm Homicides have Increased 80% since 2019, with 75% of the Guns used to Commit the Crimes originating in another State. “This has not happened before,” she said. “We have in the next room 15 individuals in person and on Zoom who are joining together in common pursuit of stopping the guns flowing into New York and falling into the hands of criminals.”
She also announced, Calliana Thomas, as the New Director of the State Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which is to be embedded in the Department of Health. “This is going to make sure we’re looking at all the collateral impacts of gun violence, but also perhaps the drivers of this—what leads people to this,” Hochul said. “What’s going on in their emotional and psychological worlds that leads people to these decisions.”
Earlier this week, Adams laid out a Multiprong approach to Combating Gun Violence, that included an Increased Police presence in some Neighborhoods and the Return of Plainclothes Anticrime Units, which work Undercover.
In a separate announcement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), named Peter Pope as Executive Assistant District Attorney for Gun Violence Prevention, a newly created role. Bragg, who was Elected in November 2021, has found himself at the Center of a Public Firestorm following a controversial Sentencing Memo he issued Jan. 3, 2022. “Our first civil right is walking to the corner store safely and free of fear,” Bragg said Wednesday. “People walking the streets with guns will be prosecuted and held accountable.”
He emphasized in annoucing Pope’s Aappointment that his Office would use Gun Possession Cases, as an opportunity to Trace the Sources of Illegal Firearms entering New York and to Prosecute Gun Traffickers.
Hochul, Adams, and Bragg, have good reason to target Illegal Guns and those who Traffic them. More than 350 Illegal Guns have been Confiscated in New York City this year, following more than 6,000 last year. Adams has blamed the Flow of Guns into New York, on the so-called Iron Pipeline, which runs along the I-95 corridor. The Iron Pipeline extends as far South as the Carolinas and even to Georgia, according to Aborn.
Aborn said the Trafficking of Guns is done by a Small number of Dealers, who make Only Two or three Trips per year into the City. He suggested it would be valuable if Hochul’s Interstate Task Force extended beyond the Northeast and along the entire Eastern Seaboard.
New York needs to Work with the other Eastern Seaboard States “in a coordinated fashion and stop both the illegal traffickers and the dealers who knowingly sell weapons of death into New York,” he said. “If we can get the guns out of New York, the murder rate would plummet. The shooting rate would plummet.”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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