Clash & ‘carry’ on gun lunacy
Cy sees weapons plague if NRA bill OKd
AN NRA-BACKED bill to make it easier to carry guns across state lines would result in “hundreds of thousands more concealed weapons” flooding the city, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. warned Sunday.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act pending in Congress would require states to recognize concealed-carry permits from other states, similar to the way officials recognize an outof-state driver’s license.
Vance said the legislation would undermine efforts to combat gun violence in New York City.
“The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act could very dramatically affect in a negative way security in New York City,” Vance told radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970.
“If that act passes — and it is the No. 1 legislative priority of the NRA — I think we realistically are going to be looking at perhaps hundreds of thousands more concealed weapons coming into New York City . . . It will affect major urban areas in a negative way dramatically.”
The NRA has said the bill is one of its top priorities.
“Americans’ Second Amendment right to bear arms doesn’t end at their states’ borders,” the NRA says.
There are 38 states that require a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Twelve states do not require a permit.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) told USA Today on Friday that House leaders are committed to bringing the bill to a vote by the end of the year — and that mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas only reaffirm the need for uninhibited travel of gun-carrying citizens.
Rep. Pete King echoed Vance’s opposition to the bill, which he said could pass the House.
“It’s dangerous and crazy,” the Long Island Republican said. Paul Marquez, an actor living in Bushwick, Brooklyn, agreed. “I think it would definitely up the ante of people not being safe,” Marquez, 27, said. “Knowing that you’re possibly sitting next to somebody with a concealed weapon at any moment, I just don’t trust it. I don’t think it’s safe.”