NYC-WTC_000230575

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

people who have a much higher chance of becoming the killers of tomorrow. Not always- there are people who are well-educated who become killers, but there’s no question that better education would help reduce the crime rate, that’s another thing you can do. Making sure that we have jobs for people, and you know, all of these things come together and getting guns of the streets.

Gambling: To that point. Statistically we know that crime is way, way down, but I also read that statistically that the number of gun shots discharged in the city is up somewhat.

Mayor: Shootings are down from four years ago, but up this past year I think. And look...

Gambling: Who do you point the finger at for the guns that get into New York City. Is it the State? Is it the local government, State government, Federal government?

Mayor: This is a national issue because every State has it’s own laws and it’s so easy to take your car, drive to another state, buy guns, and come back in. So if one- if 49 States really take this seriously and try to protect the lives of their police officers and their children, because in the end it’s their children and their police officers whose lives are on the end- on the line, if every, if 49 States acted responsibly and one acted irresponsibly and said anybody without a background check can come in and buy, you know, 100 guns, then it doesn’t work. That’s why you’ve got to deal with this at a national level. I think having stricter State laws makes some sense, but fundamentally if you want to solve the problem it is up to Congress and congress keeps getting rolled by the NRA. We can’t even restrict sales to guns to people who are on the No Fly list. After 9/11, we create this list, the people...

Gambling: Yeah but I’ve got to give up my scissor.

Mayor: That’s right.

Gambling: I’ve got to give up my scissors.

Mayor: Yeah you’re right. The scissors. But I think actually they’re letting you keep the scissors again. It’s turned out not to be that big a threat.

Gambling: Yeah, but you know what I mean. It’s embarrassing. It’s laughable.

Mayor: This is plain and simple, the NRA versus the lives of our children and our police officers. I have no problems with the constitutional right to bear arms. But you know, high velocity armor piercing- vest piercing- They advertise vest-piercing bullets in guns that you can conceal. The last time I saw a deer wearing a bullet-proof vest was a long time ago. And this- you know, they just- you don’t have absolute rights. We for example limit freedom of speech in the sense that you can’t walk into a crowded theater as a joke and yell ‘fire.’ You can argue it’s an abridgement of the first amendment, but in the practical sense it isn’t. And there is a ways to allow people to bear arms but not to have

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