New York’s Democrat Governor and Attorney General Vow to ‘Fight’ Trump

It is a pitiful display of sour grapes and pathetic threats.

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/new-yorks-democrat-governor-and-attorney-general-vow-to-fight-trump; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

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New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James disgraced themselves the day after the American people voted overwhelmingly to elect Donald Trump to become the forty-seventh president of the United States. Still defiant after the American people had clearly spoken with their vote of confidence in Mr. Trump’s leadership and policies, Hochul and James vowed resistance to the president-elect and his incoming administration. In Governor Hochul’s words, “You try to harm New Yorkers or roll back their rights, I will fight you every step of the way.”

Shortly before the election, Hochul smeared all New Yorkers who intended to vote for Mr. Trump as “anti-American.” It turned out that she managed to insult about 3.5 million New York citizens who voted for Mr. Trump, which was 43 percent of all those who turned out to vote in New York. Hochul’s definition of a “democracy” is a one-party system that espouses one vision for America and does not tolerate any significantly opposing views.

At her post-election appearance with Attorney General James, Governor Hochul likened the election result to the “storms” that “we have weathered before,” such as “epidemics.”  She added, “We fought the first time around and we’ll fight again.”

Attorney General James declared: “My office has been preparing for a potential second Trump Administration, and I am ready to do everything in my power to ensure our state and nation do not go backward…We are ready to fight back again.” James warned, “We’re ready to respond to any attempts to cut or eliminate any funding to the great state of New York. We will continue to stand tall in the face of injustice, revenge, or retribution.”

Ms. James’ Trump Derangement Syndrome led her to abuse her office in a vendetta of injustice, revenge, and retribution aimed at Mr. Trump. To keep Trump tied down in court and strip him of the financial resources to mount another presidential campaign, Mr. James tried to bankrupt Mr. Trump with a bogus civil lawsuit that has already drawn skepticism from appellate judges. Now she is doubling down on her pledge “to fight back again.” What she is vowing to fight back against once again is the American people’s decision to elect Donald Trump as our president once again.

President-elect Trump has promised to begin mass deportation of illegal immigrants, beginning with criminal gang members who have been preying on innocent people, as his top priority upon taking office. The majority of the American people support mass deportation and view illegal immigration as one of their main concerns. But not Hochul and James. They prioritize preserving New York as a sanctuary state and protecting the so-called “rights” of illegal immigrants over the rights of law-abiding Americans to live in a secure, safe environment.

As part of her resistance battle plan to fight “policy and regulatory threats” that may emerge from the new Trump administration, Governor Hochul announced the formation of an “Empire State Freedom Initiative.” Among the alleged “threats from a Trump administration” is immigration, which the taxpayer-funded Empire State Freedom Initiative is tasked with addressing.

Thus, we can expect that one of the first battles that Governor Hochul and Attorney General James will launch against the Trump administration will focus on actions the new administration will take to strictly enforce the nation’s immigration laws. The administration is likely to cut federal funding to sanctuary states and cities. Hochul and James will likely howl and try to obtain a court injunction to stop the cutoff of funding. If that is the way they plan to proceed, the Supreme Court may ultimately have to decide the case. The Constitution’s federal Supremacy Clause and grant of exclusive power to enforce the nation’s immigration laws to the federal government should allow the Trump administration to cut federal funding to a state whose sanctuary policies undermine federal law enforcement.

The Trump administration is also likely to unleash Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to root out illegal immigrants residing in shelters and hotels, including those housed in New York City at taxpayers’ expense. State and local officials who try to stop ICE agents from doing their job to capture and detain illegal immigrants should be charged with impeding federal law enforcement.

Progressive Democrats like Kathy Hochul and Letitia James cannot accept the fact that the American people chose Donald Trump as the forty-seventh president because they agreed with his policies on the economy, immigration, and national security. Many Americans are tired of being labeled “garbage,” “misogynist,” “racist,” “bigoted,” “xenophobic,” etc. To have their thoughts about the state of the country under the Biden-Harris administration’s leadership that differ from the leftist elite’s orthodoxy. The American people voted for President-elect Trump as a change agent to steady what they fear is a sinking ship.

Instead of vowing to fight President-elect Trump and his incoming administration, Governor Hochul and Attorney General James should do some self-reflection along with their party to understand why they are so out of step with most Americans.

Trump delivers speech at MAGA rally in Salem, Virginia~Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at Trump rally in Salem: FULL SPEECH~Hung Cao to Democrats: We Are Not Garbage

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at Trump rally in Salem: FULL SPEECH

Hung Cao to Democrats: We Are Not Garbage. We are Americans.

Candidate for the U.S. Senate seat representing Virginia, Hung Cao, had a few words for Democrats calling Trump supporters bigots, fascists and garbage.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Gives Update On Response To Hurricane Milton

DeSantis Details Damage, Fatalities, & Early Response After Hurricane Milton Hits Florida

Picking Up The Pieces! Mission Update #hurricanehelene

In this video, we’re taking you through the next phase of our efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. After completing the Search and Rescue, Recovery, and Logistics stages, we are now deep into community rebuilding. Power has been restored at the community hub, but most of the town remains without power. We’ve been working tirelessly to deliver crucial supplies and generators to those still in need, helping the community rebuild stronger than ever. You’ll get an inside look at the on-the-ground efforts to bring people together, maintain morale, and provide resources to keep everyone safe and resilient. Join us as we continue to make an impact, while keeping true to the Prepper mindset of preparedness, self-reliance, and survival. Thank you for your ongoing support—your contribution is helping us make a difference! Stay tuned for more updates on how you can help and what we’re doing next in our mission to rebuild.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Claims Harris Has ‘No Role’ In Hurricane Response

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on August 8, 2024. DeSantis awarded Miami-Dade County with an $8 million grant to help with the construction of their new stadium, Miami Freedom Park. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on August 8, 2024. DeSantis awarded Miami-Dade County with an $8 million grant to help with the construction of their new stadium, Miami Freedom Park. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
12:07 PM – Tuesday, October 8, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/desantis-claims-harris-has-no-role-in-hurricane-response/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has called out Vice President Kamala Harris saying she has “no role” in the hurricane response.

On Monday, DeSantis (R-Fla.) accused Harris of having “no role” in helping the state recover from Hurricane Helene or prepare for Hurricane Milton.

“For Kamala Harris to try to say my sole focus on the people of Florida is somehow selfish is delusional,” DeSantis said. “She has no role in this, in fact, she’s been vice president for three and a half years, I’ve dealt with a number of storms under this administration, she’s never contributed anything to any of these efforts.” 

According to NBC News, DeSantis was not taking calls from the Democratic presidential nominee regarding storm recovery efforts, citing unnamed aides to the governor who said the calls seemed political in nature.

However, when DeSantis was asked by Fox News' Sean Hannity if she has ever called before while preparing for hurricanes, he answered “no.”

“She has no role in this process. I’m in contact with the President of the United States. "I'm in contact with the FEMA director, I’m obviously managing all of our state agencies, we’re supporting all our local governments,” he added. 

Harris responded to the Florida governor’s accusations, stating he was “playing politics.” 

“People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations … is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish,” Harris said to reporters on Monday. “It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first.”

DeSantis claimed good relations with both the Trump and Biden administrations regarding hurricane preparation and response before Harris. 

“She’s the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm, and she’s doing that just because of her campaign,” DeSantis said. “I don’t have time for political games. I’ve got people whose lives are on the line, I’ve got people whose homes and possessions are on the line, and we are focused 100% on that mission.”

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Florida Gov. DeSantis Expands State Of Emergency To 51 Counties Ahead Of Hurricane Milton

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Florida, on September 26, 2024 as Hurricane Helene was set to slam into the Florida coast as a "catastrophic" Category 4 storm. An increasingly powerful hurricane threatening "catastrophic," dangerous storm surges and flooding was forecast to hit Florida's Gulf coast on September 26, as thousands of residents evacuated towns along the US state's shoreline. Helene strengthened into a hurricane mid-morning September 25 in the Gulf of Mexico and is "expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains to a large portion of Florida and the Southeastern United States," the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its latest bulletin. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Florida, on September 26, 2024 as Hurricane Helene was set to slam into the Florida coast as a “catastrophic” Category 4 storm. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
3:40 PM – Saturday, October 6, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/florida-gov-desantis-expands-state-of-emergency-to-51-counties-ahead-of-hurricane-milton/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for 51 counties ahead of Hurricane Milton. 

DeSantis (R-Fla.) declared a state of emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Milton for 51 Florida counties, including all counties in the Tampa Bay Area.

Areas at greatest risk are communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Ian in 2022.

The Executive Order (EO) 24-214 includes Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, and Volusia counties.

Milton is expected to hit Florida and become a dangerous hurricane next week with damaging winds, life-threatening storm surges and torrential rain.

Over the next 36 hours, Milton is predicted to intensify quickly. By the time it reaches the Florida peninsula’s west coast midweek, it may be a powerful Category 3 hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane and Storm Surge watches will likely be required for portions of Florida.  

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

Hurricane Helene: Florida gov. Ron Desantis provides update on deadly storm

Hurricane Helene made its way through the sunshine state and emergency crews rushed Friday to rescue people trapped in flooded homes. Florida and other states such as Georgia experienced massive storm surge power outages. Florida governor Ron Desantis held a press conference on Friday providing an update on Hurricane Helene.

Ohio Gov. DeWine Sending State Police To Springfield Schools Amid Bomb Threats

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine takes part in a sound check at the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 14, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The convention will take place from July 15th to the 18th. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine takes part in a sound check at the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 14, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
12:03 PM – Tuesday, September 17, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/ohio-gov-dewine-sending-state-police-to-springfield-schools-amid-bomb-threats/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on Monday that he has authorized state troopers to be stationed at each school building in Springfield, Ohio after a series of “unfounded bomb threats” took place. 

DeWine has said all 33 bomb threats received so far have been hoaxes.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have been blamed for recent bomb threats in the media, claiming they’re the reason these threats are taking place.

“We have people, unfortunately overseas, who are taking these actions. Some of them are coming from one particular country. "We think that this is one more opportunity to mess with the United States,” DeWine said during a Monday afternoon news conference. “We cannot let the bad guys win. Our schools must remain open. They’re going to remain open.”

However, DeWine declined to name which country the threats were coming from. 

The troopers will deploy explosive sniffing dogs and will work alongside the Springfield Police Department. Three dozen troopers will be assigned to provide security before, during and after school hours at the city’s 18 school buildings for the foreseeable future. 

DeWine also stated that the Haitians who relocated to the area of Springfield for work are there under legal status. 

“There are issues about immigration that anybody has the legitimate right to talk about and to debate. "The fact that our southern border is porous and is a total mess is a legitimate issue in a presidential campaign, a Senate campaign or any other campaign,” DeWine said.

Starting on Tuesday, 36 state troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Mobile Field Force will be stationed throughout the school district. 

They will start sweeping school buildings for threats each day before students and faculty arrive, remaining on-campus throughout the day “to provide security throughout the school day and during dismissal.”

“None of the threats that have come into Springfield to date have been legitimate. "We're doing this purely as a precaution to prevent further disruption within the Springfield City School District,” DeWine said.

Additionally, the Ohio Governor said he also directed Ohio Homeland Security to conduct vulnerability assessments on “critical infrastructure” in the city, as well as provide surveillance cameras to the local police department.

DeWine also stated that the problems with illegal immigration are legitimate issues to debate and something to think about when voting. 

Meanwhile, nearly 20,000 Haitians have moved to Springfield over the past few years, a dramatic increase for a town that had 59,000 in it as of the 2020 census. 

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Ohio: Governor Sending Troops, $2.5M To Springfield, Where Haitian Migrants Have Relocated To

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine speaks to a crowd in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:02 PM – Wednesday, September 11, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/ohio-governor-sending-troops-2-5m-to-springfield-where-haitian-migrants-have-relocated-to: republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The city of Springfield, which is dealing with an influx of Haitian illegals that have brought the region national attention, will send additional law enforcement and millions of dollars in resources from the governor of Ohio.

Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated on Tuesday that while the “Temporary Protected Status” program has been implemented, which has allowed over 15,000 Haitians to enter the 59,000-person city since 2020, he believes more needs to be done by the federal government to assist affected towns.

The city of Springfield is at the center of one of the most controversial topics in this election. GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance stated that “Haitian illegal immigrants” are “draining social services and generally causing chaos.”

Springfield has seen its population grow by over 20% in four years, driven mostly by illegal immigration, PBS reported.

In an effort to stop the federal government from continuing to send “an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities,” Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost authorized his office to investigate legal options on Monday, including the possibility of launching a lawsuit.

DeWine clarified that Ohio has already given Springfield extra funding to support driver education and training, pay for more immunizations and health checks in schools, and improve translation services.

“These dramatic surges impact every citizen of the community, every citizen,” he said. “Moms who have to wait hours in a waiting room with a sick child, everyone who drives on the streets, and it affects children who go to school in more crowded classrooms.”

The Ohio State Highway Patrol will be sent to assist local law enforcement on Wednesday in addressing traffic-related problems that have now arisen, according to officials, as a result of more Haitians using the roads who are not familiar with American traffic laws and not assimilating well into American culture.

According to DeWine, he has also set aside $2.5 million over a two-year period to expand primary healthcare services offered by private healthcare facilities and the county health department.

Additionally, in a Springfield police 9-1-1 call from August 26th, a local homeowner said on Tuesday that four Haitian immigrants were out at a nearby park holding dead geese whose necks had been broken.

The Federalist outlet was also able to obtain audio of a man reporting the incident to a local dispatcher, which was included in the article.

“I’m sitting here, I’m riding on the trail, I’m going to my orientation for my job today, and I see a group of Haitian people, there were about four of them, they all had geese in their hands,” the caller said.

Screenshots of a Facebook post from another resident of a Springfield local group also claimed that a friend’s cat went missing recently and was subsequently witnessed being prepared for dinner in the yard of a Haitian immigrant.

A handful of Springfield residents have voiced during public city council meetings that the surge in Haitian migrants and their “barbaric” methods of hunting local animals for consumption is distressing and has no place in their community.

However, a spokesperson from the Springfield Police Department still claimed that there were no “credible” reports of any illegal immigrants taking part in these acts, seemingly gaslighting community members and those who have personally claimed to have witnessed these situations.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

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Governor DeWine announces state support for Springfield amid influx of Haitian migrants

Eating DUCKS? Residents of Springfield, Ohio Speak Out About Thousands of Haitian Migrants

Migrants Are Eating Pets in a Small Ohio Town

Another American city is being overrun by illegal migrants and violent crime, and guess what—the media is doing everything it can to ignore it, of course. Let’s talk about Springfield, Ohio.

Springfield, Ohio Locals SPEAK OUT on Migrant Crisis

BlazeTV investigative reporter Julio Rosas traveled to Springfield, Ohio to cover the worsening crisis involving Haitian migrants in the area. In the video, Rosas interviews four individuals from the nearby village of Tremont City, Ohio, including Mayor Tony Flood II and a local police officer. These interviews were recorded on September 10, 2024.

'I Don't Want to Be Mean...': Former New Jersey Democrat, now Republican Jeff Van Drew Brings Up Haitian Migrants In Ohio At Border Hearing

Ohio city with Haitian migrant influx thrust into political spotlight

Springfield, Ohio, is at the center of one of the most fraught issues in this election. GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance wrote that “Haitian illegal immigrants” are “draining social services and generally causing chaos.” Springfield has seen its population grow by over 20 percent in four years, driven mostly by immigration. William Brangham visited the city to understand how it is coping.

Kamala Unveils ‘Red Flag’ Centers to Take Away Guns~Repressive states~Gun control governors

Higbie: Any government that takes guns away is going to do something terrible

Repressive States: No Right to Carry, Ban on Semi-Autos, No Suppressors, and High Taxes

SEE: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/03/repressive-states-no-right-to-carry-ban-on-semi-autos-no-suppressors-and-high-taxes/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:
gun control gun rights iStock-gguy44 962772470
gun control gun rights iStock-gguy44 962772470

Nine states show up again and again as the most repressive states in the union of the United States of America. With the occasional exception, these states refuse to honor the Constitution; they have extremely restrictive policies on who may bear arms, they ban common rifles, they ban the ownership of suppressors, and they tend to have high taxes. They are all controlled by the Democratic Party.

The nine most repressive states are California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.

Of those nine states, all but Rhode Island have enacted bans on some semi-automatic firearms, usually under the politically defined label of “assault rifles.”

Washington State has also banned certain semi-automatic rifles. Litigation challenging such bans as unconstitutional is moving forward in several states, including Maryland, New York, California, Illinois, and New Jersey. At some point, the Supreme Court will rule on one or more of these cases.

Of those nine states, all but Rhode Island have enacted bans on some semi-automatic firearms, usually under the politically defined label of "assault rifles." 
Of those nine states, all but Rhode Island have enacted bans on some semi-automatic firearms, usually under the politically defined label of “assault rifles.” 

Of the nine repressive states, eight of them have laws that prevent most of the population from exercising their Second Amendment rights, especially the right to bear arms outside of the home.

The right-to-carry map shows the current state of the right to carry in the United States of America by state.
The right-to-carry map shows the current state of the right to carry in the United States of America by state.

Out of the nine repressive states, eight have “may issue” laws whereby a government official has discretion to deny a carry permit based on his subjective opinion.

In this way, Martin Luther King was denied a carry permit in Alabama in 1956. John Stossel was denied a carry permit in New York City. Illinois is shown as a “shall issue” state. Illinois was forced by the Court of Appeals in the Seventh Circuit to pass a “shall issue” law or risk being forced to become a permitless carry state.

Of the nine repressive states, all but one ban the possession of silencers/suppressors in their state.

Suppressors/silencers are effective safety devices, which are common in Europe and many other countries. The American Suppressor Association maintains a map showing which states ban the legal possession of silencers/suppressors. Maryland does not ban the ownership of suppressors and allows them to be used for hunting. Suppressors/silencers are banned in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.

Of the nine repressive states, all but one ban the possession of silencers/suppressors in their state.
Of the nine repressive states, all but one ban the possession of silencers/suppressors in their state.

Now, taxation, of the nine most repressive states, is in the top ten highest tax states: New York, Hawaii, California, New Jersey, Illinois, and Delaware.

All of the nine most repressive states are Democratic party trifectas, as shown by Ballotpedia. A Democratic party trifecta means both houses of the legislature and the governorship are in the hands of the Democratic party.

A similar situation existed with states in the South when they refused to follow Supreme Court rulings to desegregate public schools. Eventually, under a Republican administration, President Eisenhower enforced the desegregation order in Arkansas schools. Do not expect a Biden, or any Democratic administration, to use troops to enforce Second Amendment rights in repressive states.  Just as the Democratic party was the party of government power and segregation through the 1950’s, the Democratic party has been the party of government power and repression of Second Amendment rights since the Supreme Court rulings in Heller (2008), McDonald (2010), Caetano (2016) and Bruen (2022).


About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten was a peace officer, a military officer who was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Gun Control Governors Need a Hard Reality Check

Opinion
By Matt Manda

SEE: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/03/gun-control-governors-need-a-hard-reality-check/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Crime Scene Tape NRA-ILA
Shutterstock 56280433

Several of the nation’s most ardent gun control activist governors and mayors of the largest metropolitans are staring down a divergent reality. They continue to stick with publicizing increasing gun control restrictions on law-abiding citizens, as crime is going down in many – though not all – major cities, while gun sales continue to increase at “new normal” historically high rates.

The tired scare tactic of warning “more guns means more crime” is crumbling apart as millions of law-abiding Americans are awakening to what it means to be a lawful and responsible gun owner. The streak of more than one million NSSF-adjusted FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verifications processed for the purchase of a firearm that hit 55 months in February 2024.

Those firearm sales figures include significant increases in gun ownership in some of the country’s bluest states and cities. In those same areas, crime has been rampant over the past several years as politicians embraced “Defund the Police” efforts, bail reform policies and going soft on criminals.

The rest of the law-abiding population has pushed back in a resounding way.

Eyes on the Big Apple

One city where the divergent reality is most prominently seen today is New York City. Perhaps no city has seen more dissatisfied citizens about their feelings toward public safety than the Big Apple. It was a major factor under former accidental Mayor Bill de Blasio and continues under Mayor Eric Adams. That includes a stretch in 2022 where 70 percent of New York City residents felt unsafe.

That figure hasn’t improved much in the past year. The New York Times reported on a new poll showing that only 37 percent of city residents felt satisfied with the level of safety in their neighborhood. The same poll found that only half of residents admitted they planned to stay in the city past 2028.

“People are fed up with the quality of life. There’s a general sense of lawlessness. You go into CVS and there’s shoplifting. "People's cars get vandalized,” Queens Councilman Robert Holden told The New York Post about the polling.

Despite residents still feeling unsafe in their city – particularly while New Yorkers still face spikes in crime on the city’s subway – two trends have overlapped to demonstrate why crime is falling a bit in New York City from the recent highs over the past few years: increases in gun ownership and law enforcement getting tough on criminals.

In New York City, the rampant crime of the past several years, as well as more recent events including rises in antisemitism, have contributed to large numbers of new law-abiding gun owners in the city. WomenAfrican AmericansJewish residents, and even a collection of hundreds of the city’s bodega owners have all taken the Second Amendment into their own hands to purchase firearms. It’s also led to a decrease in crime so far compared to last year.

“Anyone that’s out there looking to rob us, hurt us, kill us – beware,” Fernando Mateo, a spokesperson for the United Bodegas of America, recently said. “You may be walking into the wrong bodega because now we have the same firepower you have.”

All told, NSSF-adjusted FBI NICS verifications for the purchase of a firearm in New York have totaled nearly 1.6 million. There's a lot of new, empowered New Yorkers taking their personal safety into their own hands and not relying on delayed or understaffed law enforcement. Criminals are taking note.

Busting Bad Guys

In addition to the massive number of new gun owners in the Big Apple, the falling crime rate is likely due to another logical effort that has nothing to do with placing more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners. Instead, it turns out that going after and getting tough on criminals who break the law has a real, positive impact on the city.

Gothamist reported on a new survey released by the mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the New York Police Department that highlighted new information about what types of illegal guns police are seizing and where. The report breaks down more than 6,200 firearms that police seized between July 2020 and December 2021.

“About a third of [the seized firearms] had been used in a crime and about two-thirds had not. The guns that had not been used in a crime included those seized from people who didn’t have a license to possess a firearm, and weapons that people voluntarily turned over to law enforcement at gun buybacks,” the report stated. It should be noted that illegally possessing a firearm is, in fact, a crime.

The report also demonstrated that most of the seized firearms connected to a crime came from police precincts with high crime rates, reinforcing that police know where violent criminals are, that they are using and possessing illegal firearms and that those areas deserve the most attention.

Lastly, the crime report reinforced that illegally possessed handguns are, by far, the most commonly used firearm when a crime is committed. More than 70 percent of all the guns seized were handguns, with only eight percent being either a rifle or shotgun. When the report segments those guns out further to look at the “crime guns” the numbers are even more telling. More than 80 percent of recovered firearms were handguns, with only three percent being a long gun.

This data tracks fairly closely with what the firearms industry has said for years: that the overwhelming majority of firearms used in crime are illegally obtained handguns and that, also, Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), which there are more than 28 million in circulation, are seldom used in a crime.

Not an Outlier

While crime is staying high in Washington, D.C., even though the city already implements nearly every gun control law imaginable, and a few other major cities that have notoriously soft-on-crime prosecutors or that severely cut police budgets, New York City isn’t an outlier. Across the country, in major cities crime seems to be trending downward in the right direction.

Not all major cities can point towards new gun restrictions or gun control laws as the reason behind the decrease. But, in every state – including many of the major cities which often have Left-leaning, gun control supportive mayors – firearm sales have kept up at a blistering pace.

With more law-abiding gun owners, and with more states like Louisiana and South Carolina opting for permitless carry, it’s abundantly clear criminals have recognized they are facing more empowered and confident residents that won’t be such easy targets as victims anymore.


About The National Shooting Sports Foundation

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org

National Shooting Sports Foundation