They are more ruthless than ever before.
On Sunday (January 30), Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged the federal government to give New York $1.5 billion to enable the state to get illegal guns off the streets.
At a press conference in Manhattan, the Democratic Senate majority leader said the newly developed Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns would only work if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had the necessary resources to “choke off crime,” saying that the ABCs of “beating back the source of gun violence” depended on “three federal letters: A, T, and F.”
Last Sunday, the task force headed by Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, representing 50 groups across multiple states including New York, was announced. The announcement came a day after two NYPD officers were shot and killed with a stolen firearm, highlighting the need for the task force, which politicians have said would combat gun trafficking by paralyzing the pipeline, adding that the group would prioritize intel gathering, crime gun tracing, and data-sharing.
Schumer stated during the press conference that he was “pushing for 1.5 billion dollars in federal funds for the agency,” explaining that they could assist with gun trafficking and “do more at the national level.”
He continued, saying, “without the $1.5 billion… these plans will not have their full impact,” saying that “full impact” was necessary to “address the flow of these crime guns in our communities and across our state.”
The Senate Majority leader’s strategy is to attain the federal money during Senate negotiations set to take place this week, as he said the issue is on his “front burner.”
