If only. Unfortunately, it’s just lazy copy writing. [NB: If the NRA would like to create an anti-anti-gun task force task force, we’d be only slightly confused and right behind you.] Here’s the New York City Council’s press release revealing how the duly elected representatives will combat gun violence in the wake of, uh, gun violence:
City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn [above] Announces Taskforce to Combat Gun Violence Taskforce seeks to address epidemic of gun violence in communities throughout the city
City Hall – City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn today announced the creation of the taskforce that will address the issue of youth related gun violence in the city, especially in communities of more color. Council Members Jumaane D. Williams and Fernando Cabrera will serve as Co-Chairs of the taskforce. The Council’s taskforce will work with academic experts, law enforcement and community based groups across the five boroughs to examine the root causes of gun violence, locate resources to combat gun violence and develop additional ways of tackling the problem across the city.
“For too many families across our City, gun violence is an unrelenting fact of life,” said Speaker Quinn. “It’s time for that to change. This task force will help us aggressive combat the issue of gun violence and help engage New Yorkers to take action and stop the violence that is poisoning our communities.”
Council Member Williams stated, “It is long past due that we pull together all resources possible to put an end to the gun violence ravaging our communities. There are New York City’s children’s lives at stake every single day. It should not be acceptable to us that these shootings occur in any community, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or any other characteristic. I look forward to ensuring this task force not only produces a valuable dialogue, but delivers real results in the form of program and policy change to save lives and our children’s futures.”
“Gun violence is a stain on our communities that disproportionately affects neighborhoods of color,” said Council Member Cabrera. “This is an unfortunate reality that many of us have to live with and it is time that we examine this issue deeply and take comprehensive action towards workable solutions. This task force aims to do just that.”
Today’s announcement comes in response to the growing problems of gun violence and illegal handgun ownership. Most recently this past weekend nearly 50 people were shot, three of them fatally. Excluding Labor Day, during the week ending Sunday, 98 people were shot, an increase of more than 45% from the same period last year.
The taskforce continues the past work the City Council and Speaker Quinn have done to combat gun violence and killings in local communities. In 2008, the Council partnered with the Center to Prevent Youth Violence and Jackie Rowe Adams of Harlem Mothers Save to combat the culture of ‘Stop Snitching’ which is a code of conduct that discourages individuals from cooperating with law enforcement, perpetuating violent crime. As a result of the partnership and the Council’s work, a new hotline was implemented in public schools to encourage students to stand together and speak out against violence. Since its inception, 1-866-SPEAK-UP has generated hundreds of calls and texts in New York City to the anti-violence hotline.
Jackie Rowe Adams, of Harlem Mothers Save, voiced her support for today’s taskforce. “It is time we stand up, take back our community and take back our kids. The silence must stop,” said Ms. Adams. “I’m very proud to be a part of this task force and I am ready, willing and able to step up and support whatever the City Council needs on this issue. Speaker Quinn has been working to combat gun violence for a long time, has never let the issue go and I look forward to being a part of the taskforce’s work.”
Dan Gross, CEO and Founder of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence stated, “The Center to Prevent Youth Violence considers Speaker Quinn and the New York City Council very important partners in our efforts to prevent gun violence in New York City. This task force is further demonstration of their deep commitment to the issue. They don’t just talk about solving the problem; they take meaningful action to do something about it. We look forward to working with this task force to identify further solutions that will end gun violence in our communities once and for all.”
The task force will meet in the coming weeks, and will conduct outreach in communities throughout the city, talking to residents about how New Yorkers can work collaboratively in order to reduce gun violence.
This is an easy one. Stronger jails. The ones’ they have now seem to leak prisoners. How many times do we see perps listed as having long criminal records out on parole? The best way to disarm criminals is to not let them back out in the first place. But their friends and families vote for the people who give them second chances.
Taskforce to Combat Gun Violence Taskforce seeks to address epidemic of gun violence in communities throughout the city
This is an easy one, disarm the police
Let me guess, in 12 months they’ll create a list of recommendations to end gun shows, mandate Federal licensing and registration, require locks on all guns, reinstate the ban on “assault” rifles, and begin microstamping everything. And criminals will still be shooting people in NYC. Did I forget anything?
You forgot things like
1. Hiring more youth counselors (pad that public payroll!)
2. Paying more neighborhood activist groups to “work on the roots of youth violence.”
3. Hiring a PR company to put together a “Stop The Violence” campaign.
4. Fund more toy-gun buyback programs so that “the children” don’t become acclimated to guns.
5. Pass legislation requiring that gunowners inventory their guns monthly and imprison those whose inventory doesn’t match their authorized list.
Oops! Thanks for pointing those out Bob. I’ll get ready to write a bigger check to the IRS next year to finance all that.
One more thing, the same people running the show now will get re-elected.
you forgot banning those “evil” high capacity magazines
I believe you mean extra-capacity assault clips.
Another excellent catch. Thanks guys. But it think the technical term is “automatic-spray-fire-mass-destruction-high-capacity-unreasonable-bullet-holder-thingies”.
You don’t want to forget the bullets! They cause the real damage.
Remember, guns don’t kill people bullets do.
Bloomberg giving authority to more people to suppress gun rights/civil rights.
His agenda is clear and he is not shy about using money or position as Mayor to further his anti-civil rights/gun rights agenda.
There is so much gun violence in NYC because only the criminals are armed and everyone else is either a target, or a backtop when the criminal misses their target.
Wonder how the criminals would feel if the citizenry were armed.
Bloomberg really is a douchebag. Chicago (where I somewhat live) is bad enough on plenty of things but NYC and LA blow us out of the Water on overall retarded policies although we’re extremely close in crappy gun laws.
It appears that New Yorkers have disarmed themselves of the weapons of grammar and punctuation as thoroughly as they have divested themselves of firearms.
Why not try to work against violence as a whole and not just “gun violence?” What, you don’t care about stabbing and beating victims?
Oh, right, narrowing it down to gun violence enables them to scare the public into accepting more unconstitutional gun laws.
As our President said last night, we don’t want no stinkin rigid ideas about what government should be doing to block our efforts at building utopia.
They almost got this one right, but they misnamed the task force: Taskforce to Combat
GunViolence.I can get on board with their sentiment to “…work with academic experts, law enforcement and community based groups across the five boroughs to examine the root causes of gun violence…” but I can save them a boatload of cash and effort. The root causes of violence among youth are: poverty, lack of education, lack of family structure, etc.
If they could somehow tackle those issues the violence problem might, just might, be curbed. It really isn’t about guns. Guns are just a tool used in the expression of violence. If they can address the root cause of violence there will be fewer victims of shootings, stabbings, and beatings.
Stop focusing on guns and maybe they will be able to affect some substantial change.
I’ll give them some starting points for the “root causes” of gun violence.
1. drugs. Pot needs to legalized, penalities for large-scale trafficking of Sch. A narcotics needs to be increased. Most of the gun violence is gang-related, and most of the gang violence is drug / turf related.
2. Break-down of the nuclear family, particularly in the “colored” community (to use the City Council’s term).
3. Pop-culture glorification of gangs, violence, and other negative influences.
4. Lack of accountability from the legal system. Revolving door justice system needs to end; hard time needs to include hard labor.
5. Culture of curruption in New York City law enforcement community needs to end.
5. Allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed in NYC.
There are no elected officials in New York City who want to put an end to the culture of violence, because they can use it to their advantage. And none of them really want to end the actual violence, either, because they can use that, too. It must be working or them, because the same clowns keep getting reelected year after year.
New York might be among the most sophisticated of cities, but its voters certainly qualify as the dumbest bunch of yahoos on the face of Planet Earth, not counting the mental midgets of Chicago.
+1
The Progressive establishment sees crime and violence as a form of social control.
New York still has an assault weapon ban for anything made. After September 93. All high capacity mags need to be preban
Will NATO liberate NY quickly.