Bill de Blasio
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
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By Larry Keane

For New York City’s Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, the gun is the problem, not the criminal.

That’s why he focused on New York City’s crime problem by restricting law-abiding citizens’ ability to purchase firearms for self-protection. The mayor announced major “crime reduction” plans twice before and missed by a mile. The mayor’s plan to reduce crime is aimed not at criminals, but those who abide by the law.

New York City crime spiked over the last several months and Mayor de Blasio’s unserious approach has been a major factor. The accidental mayor twiddled his thumbs as crime and criminal firearm misuse rose. His plans to keep citizens safe included a billion-dollar law enforcement budget cut and window dressing gun buyback events. After those proved ineffective, the mayor announced more of the same with a similar plan.

Now, instead of cracking down on crime, he’s carping at lawful gun owners.

“We’ve come so far to try to keep guns out of the hands of New Yorkers,” the mayor said. “And the Supreme Court, it looks like they’re working overtime to put guns right back in those hands. That really worries me.”

The mayor didn’t say “criminals” or “law-breakers” or “New Yorkers with concerning mental issues.” He said “New Yorkers,” because he believes the gun is the problem, not the operator.

Wrong Approach

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea also responded to the news of the Supreme Court’s acceptance of hearing the case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett. “We already have a concerted focus on reducing shootings in New York City; adding more guns to our streets is not the answer to reducing violence,” he said following the SCOTUS announcement.

Bill de Blasio, Chirlane McCray
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

But in 2020, Mayor de Blasio announced his “concerted focus” included a proposed $1 billion cut in police funds.

“I am excited to say that we have a plan that can achieve real reform, that can achieve real redistribution…,” the mayor said. The cuts included reducing school resource officers, eliminating 1,100 police positions, canceling training classes for recruits, paying overtime and even eliminating plans for a new police precinct.

Mayor de Blasio made the announcement right as crime rose and community violence and looting were increasing. It’s no wonder law-abiding New Yorkers had an interest in buying a gun for self-protection.

Read the Room

Throughout 2020, Americans in historic numbers went to federally licensed gun retailers, passed a background check and purchased a firearm. Stating self-defense as a top priority, 21 million FBI National Instant Criminal Background Checks (NICS) for a gun sale were processed last year, and the pace is continuing in 2021.

More than 8.4 million of those were to first-time gun buyers. Mayor de Blasio believes these law-abiding Americans who want to protect themselves, their families and their property are the problem, not criminals on the streets of New York City.

While Mayor de Blasio continues to blame law-abiding gun owners for the crime problem perpetuated by criminals, it’s not surprising he continues to turn his back on law enforcement and police unions. Americans across the country are taking the right for self-protection into their own hands and the Supreme Court’s impending decision New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Corlett may mean New Yorkers will be able to do so in the future without the approval of Mayor de Blasio.

Gun control proposals from Congress have largely stalled, leaving President Joe Biden to announce executive actions. He claims popular support, but recent polls tell a different story. Americans’ appetite for gun control is the lowest it’s been in several years. Politicians singing a gun control tune, including Mayor de Blasio, should exit stage left.

For de Blasio, a focus on law enforcement and safety, punishing criminals for their actions and protecting the citizens of New York City would be a better tune.

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

 

 

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25 COMMENTS

  1. Warren Wilhelm Jr. dares not address the true nature of the violent crime perpetrators in NYC because to do so reveals the limited demographic that is responsible for over 90% of the acts. That demographic will only be enabled by the “redistribution…,” the mayor said. The cuts included reducing school resource officers, eliminating 1,100 police positions, canceling training classes for recruits, paying overtime and even eliminating plans for a new police precinct.”

    That ladies and gentlemen is why regular “New Yorkers” are his scapegoats.

  2. And as long as he or his family are not adversely affected, this will remain status quo!! Gonna vote next time, New Yorkers??

    • We did…………along with a bunch from south/central america, cemeteries, and multiple votes for homes in different counties. Best thing that can happen with NY for the country is making sure we lose that congressional district as our collapsing population indicates we should.

  3. ““We already have a concerted focus on reducing shootings in New York City; adding more guns to our streets is not the answer to reducing violence,” he said following the SCOTUS announcement.”

    Strange, the murder rate today is roughly one-half as much as it was in the early 1990s, and there are 10s of millions more guns ‘on the street’ today than there were in the early 1990s.

    It’s almost like when there are more guns in circulation, there is less murder.

    “More guns, less murder”… 😉

    • I expect the numbers to go up for a variety of reasons but hopefully the remaining NYC residents will get more legal access to self defense and at least give the criminals a “fuck around and find out” possibility.

  4. These idiot politicians will not enforce the laws on those who are breaking them. They do not want to upset their voting base and then be accused of being racist if they do. They cater to the lowest denominator in the hope that they won’t turn on them and burn the city down. This is what woke liberalism gets you.

  5. New York’s bail reform law has a lot to do with peoples feeling a lack of safety.
    Perpetrators of violent crimes are released immediately after arrest.
    New York just announced they are going to let out tens of thousands of violent prisoners in effort to “make prison safer”
    The plan is to give even those with life sentences for violent crimes time off for good behavior.
    You can imagine what that will do to the safety of the average New Yorker.
    They will need to keep a gun in their house, even if they can’t carry it out in the street

    • Hey we do lock criminals up. Typically after the third armed robbery or similar level felony.

  6. Yes, when you’re kid is the neighborhood bully, beat the dog. That’ll learn’im.

  7. A free person with a gun is perceived as a threat to the state, whether he/she is or not; free and independent enough not to run reflexively   to the state for their safety. Jeffery R. Snyder’s “A Nation Of Cowards: Public Interest Quarterly: Fall 1993 reads: “The private ownership   of firearms is a rebuke to this Utopian (actually nanny state socialist/collectivist) zeal. To own firearms is to affirm that freedom and liberty   are not gifts from the state. It is to reserve final judgment whether the state is encroaching  on freedom and liberty, to stand ready to defend that freedom, with more than mere words, and to stand outside the state’s totalitarian reach.”

    Posted courtesy of James A. “Jim” Farmer
    Merrill, Oregon (Klamath County)
    Long Live The State of Jefferson!

  8. He said “New Yorkers,” because he believes the gun is the problem, not the operator.

    No. He believes that white people are the problem. Period.

  9. I’m willing to believe him:
    New Yorkers could be the problem.
    They’re a hostile breed!

    When New Yorkers say they don’t know anyone (including themselves) who can be trusted with a gun, I’m often inclined to take them at their own word.

  10. Mayor Di Blasio (not his real name) is one of those “trained Marxists” you’ve heard about. He’s in office to wreak havoc and bring down NYC, and New York State, and the USA, and the world.

    • You’ve nailed it RGP. That’s exactly who he is. Those who think that he is just a fool are underestimating politicians like him. He even married a black woman to enhance his political position. There’s nothing vermin like him will not do to further their agenda. The Democrat Party is loaded with this type of vermin and a good number of Republicans also. Too many people get all of their information from numerous news sources that are owned by a very few powerful entities that are determined to change this Republic into a tyranny.

  11. In my opinion New Yorkers are just as good as anyone else. However that opinion may be biased as I’ve only eaten one of them.

  12. Cuomo, De Blasio, Schumer, AOC…don’t tell me there aren’t better candidates in NY and NYC even within the DNC. It’s hard to believe. It must be like CA where these idiots seem to be growing somewhere between the tomatoes and oranges.

  13. Democrat Politicians regardless of city or state have No intention of reducing crime. It is a necessary Evil to them so it can be used as a tool to further their agenda of total control over law abiding citizens. As long as their are bad guys they have an excuse to pass more laws they know criminals will not follow, but law abiding citizens will. Once they reach the level of Control they deem is sufficient. Then and only then will they focus on the bad guys at least the small fry. The big fish are already a part of the Cabal.

    • It’s not about gun control. It’s about people control. It’s not possible to install tyranny over an armed citizenry. Stalin knew this, Mussolini knew this, Hitler knew this, Mao Tse Tung knew this and Castro knew this. The only people who don’t know this are Democrat voters.

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  15. Libertarians Liberals and the Left got what they wanted. When the mayor of New York emptied the jails.

  16. The 2nd Amendment was written to prevent tyranny. It’s not about hunting or even self-defense. However, if you are out in the wilderness where law enforcement is miles away, the gun is the only law that is respected.

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