Since taking NYC's top job, Adams has been confronted with a seemingly non-stop stream of high-profile violent crimes, including a subway-pusher who killed an Asian woman, unleashing a frenzy about security on the badly underfunded MTA.
Speaking in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America", Adams, a former police officer, said that local police departments aren't well equipped to disrupt gun trafficking organizations, and that this task would be better left up to the Feds.
"The police department is doing their job taking thousands of guns off the streets, yet each time you take a gun off, there’s a constant flow of new guns coming here," Adams said.
"And if we don’t coordinate to go after those gun dealers that are supplying large cities in America such as New York, we are losing the battle, and the federal government must step in and play a role in doing so."
During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union", Adams said that street cops can't seize guns fast enough given the constant stream of guns being supplied to NYC.
"We have to stop the flow of guns. We are removing thousands of guns off our streets, and it appears for every gun we’ve removed from the street, five are coming in. That is unacceptable," he said on "CNN’s State of the Union."
All of this follows an emotional speech from Hizzoner on Friday evening, where he lamented that "there are no gun manufacturers in New York Cit. We don't make guns here," but somehow, so many still find their way into the hands of criminals who reside in the Big Apple.
“We need Washington to join us and act now to stop the flow of guns in New York City and cities like New York.”
Lashawn McNeil, the 47-year-old man who allegedly shot the pair of NYPD cops Friday evening, used a Glock .45 with a high-capacity ammunition magazine that was stolen from Baltimore in 2017, the NYPD said.
Adams wasn't the only New York Democrat to pledge a crackdown on gun trafficking and related crime. Gov. Kathy Hochul claimed in a statement this weekend that she had "tripled" funding to stop guns coming into the Empire State. She also said we need "Washington teaming up with locals teaming up with us" to get it done.
Last night, a shot from an illegal gun took the life of a @NYPDnews officer.
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) January 22, 2022
When I say we’re going to do everything we can to stop the scourge of illegal guns in our state, it’s not just talk. We are tripling funding for efforts to get these guns off the streets. pic.twitter.com/zXv0xbL4Em
During his primary campaign for the Democratic nomination, Adams staked his political fortunes on his ability to assuage the city's worsening crime problem. So far, he's been off to a rough start. But immediately calling for help from Washington doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Maybe NYC can get AOC to raise a citizen's watch so Gracie Mansion doesn't have to be put in the awkward position - politically speaking - of raising spending on law enforcement after the 'defund the NYPD' movement of 2020 led to meaningful budgetary cutbacks.
