New York City Mayor Eric Adams is wrong to blame firearms for the city’s spike in subway murders, the New York Post insinuates in a recent article.
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That is because, as the Post correctly points out, guns have only been used in a “fraction of underground murders” over the past two years.
The New York Post reported (emphasis added):
There have been eight city subway murders so far this year, already tying the number for all of 2021 — which was the highest annual underground-slay figure in at least 25 years, or when the NYPD began keeping such records. Three of the eight subway killings so far in 2022 were fatal shootings, including the slaying of a Goldman Sachs employee. Three others involved a knife-wielding suspect. The other two came when the victim was either pushed or fell onto the tracks and was fatally struck by a train. None of the subway murders in 2021 involved a firearm.
Yet, these facts didn’t stop the mayor from pointing the finger mainly at firearms.
“There are too many guns on our streets. Those guns that are on our streets, they’re also in our subway system, they’re also in our schools, they’re everywhere we are as innocent New Yorkers,” Adams said in response to a question about the rise in subway murders at a Monday press conference.
“Our Police Department has done an amazing job, a 27-year high, the thousands of guns we’ve removed off our streets. But everyone must play their role: Judges must keep shooters in jail; lawmakers, make sure we don’t make laws that allow them to return to our streets, and we have to prosecute these cases,” he added.
The topic of violence on the city’s subways came back to the fore this month after a 15-year-old was killed while riding a train in Queens.
Violent criminals do not need firearms to take lives. As noted above, they can use knives or other sharp weapons to terrorize New Yorkers, or even use physical force to push travelers onto the tracks.
Consequently, the notion that “taking guns off the streets” is a panacea to the problem is deeply misguided.
On the other hand, encouraging law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense while using public transportation would help to keep would-be killers in check. Criminals abhor hard targets, it’s why approximately 96 percent of mass shootings happen in gun-free zones.
Unfortunately, for New Yorkers, Mayor Adams does not believe individuals have a 2A right to keep and bear arms.
It’s why he’s backing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push to outlaw guns in “sensitive locations,” including subways, and why his administration recently declared Times Square a gun-free zone.
What this means is that by keeping New Yorkers disarmed in the face of serious criminals, Mayor Adams is ensuring the violence will continue.
