New York Battles Against Illegal Guns | Albuquerque Express

New York Battles Against Illegal Guns

VoA - USA Wednesday 11th April, 2012

Most of the guns used to commit crime in New York City are illegal weapons, brought in from other states. In recent months, such weapons have been used to shoot eight local police officers, one of them fatally. Most recently, four officers were wounded on Sunday as they tried to rescue a woman taken hostage with a four-month-old baby. New York officials are seeking federal help to stop the online sale of illegal firearms.

Honors for a New York City police officer, one of eight shot with an illegal weapon over the past four months. This public outpouring was for an officer, killed while responding to a robbery last December. Mayor Michael Bloomberg accuses federal authorities of not enforcing existing laws that prevent gun sales to minors, individuals with psychiatric or drug problems and criminals.

"The disgrace is, the federal government has left some loopholes where it's hard to enforce their own laws and they don't fund any of the enforcement," said Bloomberg.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says nearly 90 percent of the firearms used to commit crime in New York City are from out of state, and most are illegal. Some of the illicit weapons are available online.

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