OPINION:
Following in the Biden administration’s footsteps, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo believes the crime spike in his state is a “guns problem,” not a “criminals problem,” and signed off on legislation that makes the Empire State the first in the nation to allow gun manufacturers, sellers, importers or marketers of guns to be held liable for causing harm to the public.
The legislation bypasses the blanket immunity provided to the industry under federal law, allowing people to sue those manufacturing guns for creating a “public nuisance,” defined as actions that harm the state’s residents.
“The gun industry is the only industry in America with immunity from civil lawsuits,” Mr. Cuomo tweeted Tuesday. “It’s an insult to victims of gun violence. Today I’m signing legislation to reinstate public nuisance liability for gun manufacturers in NYS.”
First of all, this is a false statement. The gun industry can absolutely be sued in civil court if they manufacture a faulty piece of equipment or their products have defects. What they’re not liable for are the criminal misuses of their products, just like knife makers aren’t responsible for stabbings and car makers are not at fault for hit and runs.
If deemed Constitutional — and believe me, there will be litigation contesting this legislation — the gun industry will surely be put out of business and law-abiding gun owners will have a harder time exercising their Second Amendment right.
Will crime fall? Probably not. For it’s people, not guns, that commit crimes, and New York state in particular has enacted policies that allow for more criminals to be let loose on its streets.
New York City, where shooting incidents in May spiked 73% compared to the same period last year, has instituted some of the most liberal, progressive criminal justice reforms in the country. It became the first city in the nation to end qualified immunity – meaning New York City Police officers can now be sued by individuals for simply doing their job patrolling the streets.
Last year, New York state eliminated cash bail for almost all criminal offenses except for violent felonies, frustrating police officers who arrested individuals who were set free and then had to be rearrested again for other crimes. Tiffany Harris, a Brooklyn woman who was released after allegedly hitting three Jewish women in an antisemitic attack, was arrested the next day accused of assaulting another woman.
New York City’s district attorneys have dismissed most of the city’s looting cases last year, after police officers made 118 arrests in the Bronx, and rioters pillaged stores at will, smashing storefront after storefront in Black Lives Matter protests. Since then, according to the local NBC News, the “NYPD says the Bronx district attorney and the courts have dismissed most of these cases – 73 in all. Eighteen cases remain open and there have been 19 convictions for mostly lesser counts like trespassing, counts which carry no jail time.”
If there are no consequences to criminal action, why would one suspect criminal actions would recede? This has nothing to do with guns.
Since last summer, 5,000 NYPD officers have retired or left the force, frustrated by these liberal policies. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shifted roughly $1 billion from the police department, amid progressive calls to defund the police. The mayor is now reversing track, vowing to spend coronavirus relief funds to rebuild the department. But the damage is done. Morale is at an all-time low. Crime is running rampant. It was the No.1 issue on New Yorkers’ minds as they voted in the Democratic primary, polls show.
Yet, Mr. Cuomo is taking aim at the gun industry. In addition to ending immunity for gun manufacturers, he announced plans for a $138.7 million approach to end gun violence and declared a disaster emergency on gun crimes, all being guided by woke, gun-control advocates.
The only disaster emergency that needs to be called in New York is the progressive criminal justice reforms that have unleashed havoc within its borders. Prosecuting criminals, reinstating cash bail, funding and supporting the police — including reinstating stop-and-frisk and Rudy Giuliani’s broken-windows policies, are the only remedy to New York’s crime problem.
Unfortunately, Mr. Cuomo would rather punish law-abiding Americans and pursue a woke agenda, giving no heed to the actual people who are committing the crime.
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