Pols: Let judges jail gun kids
City lawmakers are demanding Gov. Hochul and the state Legislature give judges the power to jail youth gun-law offenders based on their criminal history — and to ban gun offenses involving minors from being handled in Family Court, where the kids are often released quickly.
“New Yorkers deserve justice but also deserve safety. Currently, many New Yorkers do not have access to the latter. In many neighborhoods, people hear gunshots every day,” read a letter that had been signed by 16 City Council members as of Thursday afternoon and was addressed to Hochul and state lawmakers.
“This problem will not end unless we take action.”
The council members called for a fix to a system that they said facilitates the “almost-immediate release of individuals arrested for gun violence, through [a] process in which their case is transferred to a family court.”
Their requests come after front-page story in The Post (inset) cited a recent surge in deadly shootings and stabbings of minors. So far this year, street violence has led to the deaths of at least 21 children — more than triple the number for the same period in 2019 and 2020.
“The violence has been a direct result of laws that have had the unintended effect of allowing people participating in gun violence to be released from custody within hours of their arrest — sending a dangerous message to would-be perpetrators,” the letter read.
“We . . . write to respectfully implore you to fix state laws related to the carrying of unlawful firearms, to help draw a proper balance with justice and safety.”
Additionally, the city legislators requested that Albany lawmakers and Hochul “reform state law so that judges have discretion to remand individuals caught with firearms, based on factors including current violent offense and prior criminal history.”
The state Raise the Age law requires that 16- and 17-year-olds charged with nonviolent felonies be tried as juveniles and grants judges the authority to send some violent crime cases to Family Court.