Mayor Eric Adams Takes Aim at Gun Manufacturers to Tackle Gun Violence

The plan is a partnership with Black mayors of major cities around the US.

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Screenshot: NYC Mayor’s Office via YouTube (Fair Use)

NYC Mayor Eric Adams teamed up with Black mayors across the country to hold gun manufacturers accountable for the circulation of illegal firearms, according to the NY Daily News. Adams previously launched a revised plainclothes unit to recover illegal firearms. However, gun violence continues to spiral, becoming one of the biggest crime concerns in the city.

According to the Blueprint to End Gun Violence, the NYPD removed more than 6,000 guns off city streets and in the beginning of this year, officers removed 350 illegal guns. Taking the guns out of the hands of people is one thing. But figuring out where the guns came from is a completely different ball game.

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“-The $9 billion industry of gun manufacturers who have made a decision they’re going to put profit over our public safety and they have remained removed from the questions,” said Adams in the summit against illegal guns. “Guns [are] a product, and that product is used for a particular task. The clear plan, the business model is to get guns in the hands of as many people as possible. Guns have a purpose: to kill.”

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More on gun manufacturers from NY Daily News:

The manufacturers — Glock, Taurus, Smith & Wesson, Ruger and Polymer80 — produced more than half of the guns used for crimes in New York and 11 other major U.S. cities last year, according to fresh data that Adams and a half-dozen fellow mayors unveiled during an afternoon press conference at Gracie Mansion.

Brendan McGuire, Adams’ City Hall chief counsel, explained that cities could sue gun manufacturers under “public nuisance” laws.

A claim could be made under those laws that the manufacturers have created a set of conditions that are unhealthy to the public, McGuire said, noting that the city and State Attorney General Letitia James sued a group of ghost gun makers last month on similar grounds.

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In addition to seeking legal action against manufacturers, data will be exchanged across cities about gun trafficking suspects, the weapons they used and where they came from. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said he’d already collaborated with Adams to do so.

One concern still lingers as Adams makes policing the main tool of his anti-illegal-gun initiative. The Blueprint lists the NYP and Neighborhood Safety Teams as the first point of action in handling gun violence. Adams said in the summit that gun users and victims tend to be overwhelmingly Black.

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Therefore, more police will be put on patrol in predominantly Black areas. In regards to the collaboration with the other Black mayors, the plans are still underway and they haven’t provided too much info as to what their plans may entail. One thing is for certain: tracking guns being bused over state lines is crucial toward controlling gun violence.

“We are going to circle back with a formidable plan that’s going to include a multitude of things we want to do as different mayors,” Adams said. “That’s going to be a combination of using the legal apparatus, our lawmakers, using technology.”