Mayor Eric Adams on Monday commended federal lawmakers for reaching an agreement on gun-control legislation in the wake of two shocking mass shootings and the Big Apple’s own plague of gun violence, while cautioning there’s still more work to do closer to home to reduce bloodshed.
“I take my hat off to Senator [Chuck] Schumer and the 10 Republicans,” Adams told the hosts of Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”
“There are many rivers that feed the sea of violence, particularly gun violence, in our city and our nation, and this is just damming one river,” the mayor explained. “We have so many more rivers to dam, and if we don’t, we’re going to see the continuation of this violence.”
Adams went on to lament recent broad-daylight shootings in the Big Apple, blaming them on what he’s said are overly lenient state-level pre-trial policies and judges.
“The days of waiting for darkness to carry out these dangerous acts are over,” he told morning show hosts Rosanna Scotto and Bianca Peters.
Mayor Eric Adams cautioned that there’s still more work to do in NYC to curb rampant gun violence. William Miller
Mayor Eric Adams and Letitia James take part in the Walk for Our Lives march. Michael Dalton“[There are] too many guns on our streets, too many dangerous people returning to our streets after shooting guns, and just the willingness to shoot without fear of reprisal or repercussions from the criminal justice system.”
According to figures released earlier this month, the NYPD recorded 118 shootings in May — down from 172 in 2021. But last month’s tally was significantly higher than the 61 shootings reported in May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adams’ comments come after on Sunday a bipartisan group of senators announced that they came to an agreement on a framework of gun control measures following May mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. The cohort includes 10 GOP senators — a figure allows the deal to meet the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation in the 50-50 divided chamber.
Protesters call for gun control measures as they march past the site of the Tops massacre. Derek Gee/The Buffalo News via AP
On Sunday, a bipartisan group of senators announced that they came to an agreement on a framework of gun control measures. J. Scott Applewhite/APThe framework of the agreement encourages states to enact red-flag laws, to expand mental health services in all 50 states. If passed, it would also allow searches of juvenile records during background checks for Americans under 21, and increase funds for school security and mental health programs.
But omitted from the deal are a number of measures pushed by President Biden and gun- control advocates — including an assault weapons ban, and raising the age to purchase semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
