Posted on 12/02/2005 10:03:38 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
City fights huge flow of arms
BY MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation - but weak federal legislation often blows a hole in the local safeguards, top city officials and gun-control advocates said yesterday.
Two days after a thug allegedly killed NYPD Officer Dillon Stewart with a stolen handgun, an emotional Mayor Bloomberg called on federal lawmakers to "stop this craziness" because guns are flooding city streets faster than cops can seize them.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said many of the illegal guns are coming from Georgia, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.
"You can jump on a bus, buy five guns for $1,000 and sell them for $8,000 to $10,000," Kelly said.
He said 5% more illegal guns have been taken off the streets this year when compared with the same period in 2004.
In a bid to seize even more guns, Kelly told the Daily News Editorial Board he will bolster the NYPD's Operation Impact initiative next month. The strategy floods high-crime areas with cops, many of them rookies.
"When we had our last graduating class, I had to cut down on the size of Operation Impact because the department has thousands fewer cops than it did in 2000," Kelly said. "After the next class in January, Impact will be more robust with 1,100 to 1,200 cops, up from about 600."
Gun-control experts say there's little reason to believe Congress will help the NYPD by putting teeth into federal firearm laws because of the nation's powerful gun lobby.
"For a long period of time we made progress on gun control and it showed in crime statistics," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). "Now, that the NRA seems to have a stranglehold on the Congress, we move backwards."
Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said there is "absolutely nothing" moving in Congress right now that gun-control advocates support. The languishing bills include:
--A ban on "cop killer" handguns. Many police organizations and some lawmakers, including Schumer, are urging Congress to block the sale of a easily concealable guns that fire bullets that penetrate soft body armor.
--A measure to ban .50-caliber sniper rifles from private ownership. These weapons are reportedly capable of shooting down planes and are accurate from more than 4,000 yards.
--A ban on assault weapons. In September 2004, the federal ban on military-style assault weapons expired. Efforts to reinstate it have gone nowhere.
"There's arguably never been a worse time to get something done for the cities on the gun issue," Hamm said. "It reminds you of when President [Gerald] Ford told the city to drop dead in the city's budget crisis."
[Originally published on December 1, 2005]
Put a condom over NY -- solves more than the gun problem.
Hey, New York, drop dead on your city's gun crisis - idiots, if you would let law abiding citizens own guns your problem would soon disappear....oh, and your hand wringing phony republican mayor should stuff it....
The problem in NYC is the whole hip hop wanna be gangster thug mentality. They see 50 cent and whoever else these people idolize walking around and preaching that violence is ok and they automatically want to emulate their idols. It is virtually impossible to get a gun permit in NYC. Gun control does not work- skells will get the guns either way. Its about time to start PROSECTUING these idiots. Most of these perps get arrested a dozen times and they are still walking the streets. Guns arent the problem, NYC is the problem!
And there can only be one motivation for leaders who want their police to be better armed than the populace.
Bloomberg called on federal lawmakers to "stop this craziness" because guns are flooding city streets faster than cops can seize them.
Social policy mechanics is evil-blind. They don't go after criminals in NY stealing guns out of state, just after a "bad policy"
I admit that I am an idiot, but if the guns are illegal now, how do they think that making them 'really, really illegal' is going to solve their problem?
A_R
How complicated is that?
My tears are blinding me. So sad.
When have criminals follwed the law?
| We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Article. I. Section 8 Clause 3: To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; |
Yes! Stop the craziness! Let people conceal carry, you morons! Then they could defend themselves!
Indeed. Nowhere in the article was it mentioned to track down and prosecute the gun traffickers. You would think that if they know the margin on an illegal gun sale, they would also have information on who the dealers are. Straw purchases and illegal sales of guns are HUGE felonies. But they don't want to stop the crime, oh no. They want huge out of control crime to make their constituents scared into giving up more of their liberty. Well, I'll have none of it. I upgraded to life member of the NRA this year and I hope many others do, too.
Leftists believe US is the reason there are terrorists in Iraq, but refuse to understand that the defenseless sheep of New York will attract wolves.
Cannon fodder.
If you're helpless, you can't be blamed for doing nothing.
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