Mayor Eric Adams takes fight to get guns off New York City streets to lawmakers in Washington
NEW YORK -- As gun violence continues to plague New York City, Mayor Eric Adams went to Washington on Wednesday to plead with Congress to enact tougher gun laws that will help stem the tide of bloodshed here.
As CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported, Adams told lawmakers now is the time to protect our children.
Dramatic surveillance video shows a gun battle on a busy Queens street in which a 28-year old in a grey hoodie was shot in the shoulder by the man in a red-and-white-striped shirt. Luckily, no innocent bystanders were injured in the exchange of gunfire.
But it was just one of several violent incidents that are happening so frequently that many fear becoming a victim of a violent crime.
Just before noon on Wednesday police say there were two unrelated shootings in the Bronx. A man in a FedEx shirt shot a 23-year-old in an apartment on 135th Street, and a man was shot in the head on Walton Avenue two hours later. In the latter incident, three men fled in a black Volkswagen with temporary plates.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is high noon in America," Adams said. "Time for every one of us to decide where we stand on the issue of gun violence. Time to decide if it's more important to protect the profits of gun manufacturers or the lives of our children. Time to decide whether if we are going to be a nation of laws or a confederation of chaos."
READ MORE: Mayor Eric Adams receives poor ratings from New York City residents, Siena poll shows
The mayor testified before a House oversight committee on gun violence and met with members of the New York Congressional Delegation, as he seeks new laws and help from the feds to get guns off the street.
Despite the many new gun initiatives he has instituted, Adams and the NYPD just can't seem to get ahead of the guns that are flooding the city from the "iron pipeline" in the South and the "plastic pipeline," which is responsible for the influx of ghost guns.
"The New York City Police Department has taken over 3,000 illegal guns off our streets this year alone, but the guns just keep coming. This is a crisis that transcends party lines and affects both rural and urban communities," Adams said.
READ MORE: Uvalde survivor and victim's parents deliver emotional testimony at House hearing on gun violence
As Adams was in Washington, South Bronx students participated in a march to end gun violence. It marked the two-month anniversary of the killing of a 16-year-old student at University Prep Charter High School by a stray bullet.
"Guns are destroying our communities and families. Parents are scared to let their kids out because of the dangers they face," one student said.
"We in the Bronx have been hit the hardest by gun violence and if we do not stand up to the epidemic of gun violence, no one else will," Rep. Ritchie Torres said.
The mayor sought federal help as a new poll found that the steady drumbeat of violence has New Yorkers on edge, with 70 percent saying they feel less safe than before the pandemic and 76 percent saying they're afraid of becoming a crime victim.
