In advance of a visit by President Biden on Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams compared efforts to combat surging gun violence to the war on terror, reports The Trace. “We stopped terrorism by combining our city, state, and federal agencies,” he said. “Why didn’t we do it with the terror that is playing out on our streets every day?” Some 90 percent of recovered crime guns in the city come from outside the state — most from states with looser gun regulations, a fact that Joe Biden and Adams are sure to discuss.
They also are likely to discuss Adams’ request for more federal involvement in prosecuting gun crimes in the city. In his Blueprint to End Gun Violence, Adams called on federal prosecutors to pursue more unlawful possession cases, a move he explicitly linked to federal courts’ ability to hand down harsher sentences. That statement, among others in Adams’ plan, has prompted criticism from justice reform advocates. For the past decade, more than 90 percent of people arrested in New York for unlicensed firearm possession were Black or Latino. Advocates fear a return to “tough on crime” policies would worsen the effects on communities of color.
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