All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
24/7 Wall St. reports:
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation tracks gun sales and publishes a list of how many are handled as part of its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Each month, the figures are reported by state. Nearly everyone put through this system qualifies as a buyer … Gun sales have soared in the past year. They have reached 35,758,249 through November …”
Number of guns sold in New York through November: 463,070.
This is why ammo is hard to come by.
Normally I don’t care who chooses to exercise their 2A rights to carry. There are exceptions, however.
Gotham magazine reports on Mayoral candidate Eric Adams:
“… He once said in an FAQ NYC podcast interview that he would forego a police detail if elected mayor and carry his own gun (he’s backtracked on both, to a degree) …”
Here’s an old video Adams made when he was in the State Senate. At the 4:04 mark he points the gun at his face and has his finger on the trigger.
It’s good that he’s backtracked on carrying.
Update on the Suffolk County shooting range bills.
Res 1801-2020, Requiring an environmental hazard mitigation plan to address lead waste upon closure of County-owned recreational shooting ranges for 90-days or longer, has been tabled.
No action on Res 1652-2020, Requiring legislative approval for future contracts involving recreational shooting ranges on County property. It is still in the Environment, Parks & Agriculture Committee.
Saturday’s Newsbits:
Elections:
Jurisprudence:
Politics:
Attorney General Letitia James has signed on to a 19-state coalition trying to pressure the ATF to regulate “ghost guns.”
I do not see a formal announcement from her office. Buried at the bottom of this presser from Wisconsin’s Attorney General is mention that New York signed onto Josh Kaul’s brief in support of a lawsuit brought by Everytown and the City of Syracuse. Their central argument appears to be that even though they are not guns, “ghost guns” are guns.
Next big race will be for Mayor of NYC next fall. There’s a multitude of declared Democrat candidates with Eric Adams is currently leading the pack in fundraising.
Proud of our campaign for reaching this milestone the right way. Every day NYers making low-dollar contributions have powered our movement from day 1, & I'm honored to have earned their support as we've built the largest campaign fund, w/ $6.6M on hand.https://t.co/kbHVfhzZe9
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) December 16, 2020
For 2A advocates the candidate chocies will likely include bad, worse, or indifferent with the latter being the “best” option.
Queens D.A. Melinda Katz held a “gun buyback” last week:
“… “Every gun turned in this Saturday is a potential tragedy averted,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “This is the public’s opportunity to help us put a stop to bloodshed by turning in firearms.” …”
“… The NYPD held only two buybacks this year — a reflection of the belief among police brass and city pols that the events are ineffective when it comes to preventing gun violence. … at an October event on gun policy NYPD Deputy Commissioner Susan Hermann said the events attract out-of-towners looking to make easy money. “It has minimal impact,” she said, according to The New York Observer. “Typically when we do gun buybacks, actually they’re often people from other states coming to give us — Pennsylvania, New Jersey people — coming into New York to sell their guns. That’s a good thing — it’s good for America to get more guns off the street. It doesn’t particularly reap a lot of benefits here in New York.” …”
More evidence that gun control, particularly in New York City, has never been about crime control:
“… Nearly 90 percent of suspects arrested on gun charges this year are back on the streets, which the NYPD says has fueled a historic spike in shootings that have left more than 1,756 dead or wounded. About 3,345 of the 3,793 perps arrested between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 for firearms crimes — 88 percent — were let go, according to department data. Just 450 remain in jail, the NYPD told The Post …”
Have any gun control proponents commented on this? No.
And so it begins:
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris called for “common-sense” gun reform laws in messages marking the eighth anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School …”
I normally would not do this as I believe New Yorkers need to keep their $upport local, but now that Joe Biden has won the Electoral College we need to keep the Senate under Mitch McConnell’s control to block the antigunners agenda in Congress.
If you are able, consider making a donation to one or more of the following for the Georgia runoff elections to be held next month. I did.