NEW YORK—Although recent FBI reports have found New York City is one of the safest big cities in the United States, shootings over the last year—of police officers Dillon Stewart and Daniel Enchautegui, an innocent little girl named Naisha Person, and most recently an unsuspecting Chinese deliveryman named Shi Wi Yan, among others—have all been a reminder that gun violence is still a problem in New York.
City Council Member David Yassky and gun control advocates say the shootings are just further evidence that gun dealers and gun manufacturers, who are often out of state, need to be held accountable for selling guns that end up being used to injure or kill innocent people.
"Whenever there's a shooting, there's almost always two people who are responsible, the one with the gun and the one who sold him the gun," said Yassky, a Democrat representing Brooklyn, at a City Hall press conference on April 9.
Yassky has authored a bill that would direct the city to fine any member of the gun industry—in New York City or out of state—$100,000 for each violation of a code of conduct designed to protect New Yorkers from illegal firearms. Among other stipulations, the code of conduct would put a cap on the number of guns being sold to one person
"It means going after the gun dealer in Ohio who sells 50 semiautomatic rifles to a 20-year old," said Yassky.
In other states with lax gun laws, such gun dealers are responsible for 9 out of 10 illegal guns that maker their way into New York City.
Yassky authored a similar bill last year that would allow the city to sue those gun dealers and manufacturers. The council passed it and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spoken out strongly against illegal gun trafficking, signed it. However, the U.S. Congress, which is currently Republican-controlled and in favor of gun rights, recently overturned the bill.
"We did it already and then Congress overruled all the local and state laws," said Yassky. This time, the bill was crafted to avoid possible overruling from Congress. It charges the irresponsible gun dealers and manufacturers with a civil penalty rather than suing them like the last bill, he said.
"We are absolutely determined to protect ourselves [from gun violence]," he said.
Some Federal lawmakers and gun advocates, often lead by the National Rifle Association, have argued against strengthening or creating any new laws regulating the sale of guns. They usually cite the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which protects "the right of the people to keep and bear arms."
Barbara Hohlt, from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV), said "The gun industry has a financial incentive to look the other way when a few dirty dealers funnel guns to the illegal market."
NYAGV says that while most gun dealers are reputable, a few bad apple dealers are able to flood streets with guns by allowing straw purchases—which is when a person who can legally buy guns purchases weapons for a prohibited person.
"Just 1 percent of gun dealers are responsible for almost 60 percent of crime guns, yet gun manufacturers continue to supply these rogue dealers, allowing for a steady stream of illegal guns to travel up I-95—a.k.a. the iron-pipeline—and onto our streets," said Hohlt.
Bad apple gun dealers also contribute to the illegal gun market through sloppy inventory. The Washington DC sniper used a rifle which was one of several hundred that were "lost" from a gun shop in Tacoma, Washington. A gun in California was recently found to have "lost" almost 2,000 guns that had been delivered to his shop.
"It is clear that we can significantly reduce the number of illegal guns by going to the source and holding rogue gun dealers accountable," said Ms. Edie Smith of NYAGV. Smith said that while her niece was talking on a cell phone in her backyard in Arizona, she was killed by a stray bullet falling from the air.
Yassky's bill will be up for consideration as soon as the City Council reconvenes later this month.
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