NY Politicians Exploit Midtown Shooting to Push Nationwide AR Ban

After the horrific Midtown Manhattan shooting that left four dead—including NYPD Officer Didarul Islam—New York’s political class wasted no time demanding a nationwide “assault weapons” ban.

Governor Kathy Hochul declared:

“The killer used an AR-15–style assault rifle … Congress must summon the courage to finally pass a national assault weapons ban.”

Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani echoed the call, claiming New Yorkers “are only as safe as the weakest laws in the nation.”

But here’s the truth that never makes the evening news: rifles like the AR-15 are involved in a tiny fraction of gun murders in the United States.

• According to FBI data analyzed by Pew Research, rifles—all rifles combined, including the so-called “assault weapons”—accounted for just 4% of gun murders in 2023.
• Handguns, if we want to play that game, are the “real driver” of firearm homicides, involved in 53% of murders.
• Shotguns were involved in 1%, and a whopping 42% of cases involved “other or unspecified” firearms—not AR-15s.

In other words, politicians are screaming about a weapon that is rarely used in crime while ignoring that almost all gun-related violence is committed with other firearms— or illegally possessed guns in the first place.

Even if every AR-15 vanished tomorrow, a killer like 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura could have achieved the same carnage with a handgun, shotgun, knife, or even a vehicle.

History shows us criminals adapt. They always have.

Mass shootings, while tragic and high-profile, account for a tiny fraction of annual gun murders—722 deaths in 2023 by Gun Violence Archive’s overly broad definition, compared to nearly 18,000 total gun murders.

Yet politicians like Hochul and Mamdani focus on banning the most popular rifle in America, used by millions for home defense, competition, and hunting. That’s a gun-control talking point, not a real solution.

Every time a criminal commits an atrocity, law-abiding gun owners get blamed.

New York already has an AR-15 ban, red flag laws, and strict storage rules—and none of it stopped this attack.

Instead of asking why these “strong” laws failed to protect Officer Islam and other victims, anti-gun politicians demand that the rest of America give up its rights.

The reality? Banning rifles won’t stop killers. Empowering citizens and holding criminals accountable will.

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