Gov. Cuomo signs emergency declaration on gun violence

July 6, 2021 Carley Joanou US 0

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:40 PM PT – Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has taken aim at the Second Amendment. On Tuesday, Cuomo issued an Executive Order declaring a disaster emergency on gun violence and claimed it was a public health crisis.

Under the disaster emergency status, the state designated plans to immediately expedite money and resources to communities in order to address gun violence. The state also set funding of more than $57 million to create 21,000 jobs for youth living in gun violence prone communities.

The order permits police departments authority to track where shootings take place and where illegal guns are sold. To fight back against illegal firearm trafficking, the state is set to create a new special force unit designated to prevent illegal guns from entering the state.

“It is an emergency and I want the people of the state to understand that, and I want them to respond to the emergency for the way it is,” Cuomo announced. “So today, first state in the nation is going to declare a disaster emergency on gun violence.”

Today I am issuing an Executive Order declaring a Disaster Emergency on gun violence.

Gun violence is a public health crisis, and we must treat it like one.

This declaration will allow us to give this crisis the full attention & resources it deserves.

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) July 6, 2021

The Democrat governor also falsely asserted that New York’s restrictive gun control policies have reduced shootings, despite a historic crime surge in the state.

“Why do you need an assault weapon to hunt a deer? Why?” he questioned. “Why don’t you do a background check, why don’t you close the loopholes? New York did it. We have those laws in place.”

Several reports have shown shootings more than doubled in New York City alone since 2019, which marked a worse surge than in Chicago. Critics attributed the crime wave to anti-police sentiments expressed by public officials and their moves to defund police departments in capitulation to Black Live Matters protests.