POST READERS ON GUN CONTROL
T he front-page Post editorial got a lot of notice . . . and led to passage of a tough new gun law.
No, we’re not talking about Friday’s editorial calling on President Trump to act in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school massacre — but about our Feb. 13, 1980, Page One column, “Enough is enough.”
The Post has spent four decades pushing to rid our streets of danger.
Yes, we’ve long been dubious of those who would basically repeal the Second Amendment, in hopes that some magical enforcement panacea can end all gun violence.
But we’ve also consistently backed practical measures to make a difference — as in our 1980 campaign, which within four months led to America’s toughest gun-control law.
Back then, the NYPD reckoned the city held 2 million illegal handguns. The murder rate had risen to its highest levels ever (but had not yet reached its peak).
And judges were proving reluctant to impose tough sentences on those convicted of gun crimes: Of 9,518 arrests for possessing illegal guns, only 750 actually served prison time.
So when two police officers were shot to death in just 14 days, The Post — in a frontpage editorial, followed by many more — angrily declared, “Enough is enough.” Our focus wasn’t
just on cops: “How many more of our people must die violent deaths at the whim of mindless assailants with guns?” we asked.
We sent reporters to other states to show how simple it was to buy guns and quickly bring them back unimpeded.
And we called out those who had long beaten back any hint of gun control: “Time and again the gun lobby, in alliance with upstate leaders of the GOP-ruled State Senate, has successfully sabotaged efforts to achieve passage of gun laws that would send a meaningful message.”
Our demands then: mandatory minimum sentences for anyone caught with an illegal gun; stiff penalties for unlawful gun sales; harsher punishment for those committing gun crimes and rigorous standards for the issuing of licenses for self-defense.
Ordinary New Yorkers responded, flooding state lawmakers with demands for action. One by one, top legislative leaders jumped on board the bandwagon.
Just four months later, then-Gov. Hugh Carey signed a bill that, while not as strong as we wanted, was tougher than that of any other state. And it was the first-ever defeat for the “invincible” handgun lobby.
But as we noted then, this was merely one battle in what would likely be a long war. Violent crime continued to soar.
By the early ’90s, The Post was demanding more action. With crime at record levels, we wholeheartedly endorsed the aggressive, proactive policing policies of Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his first police commissioner, Bill Bratton.
Just as we’d stood up to conservatives in 1980, this time we battled liberals who opposed Broken Windows policing — which stops more serious crimes by getting thugs off the street while they’re committing “minor,” quality-of-life crimes.
It also got illegal guns off the street. Which is why we believe there’s still a place for pro-active policing, even as selfstyled “reformers” keep attacking it.
Such policies have made New York the safest big city in the nation, with crime at record-low levels unimaginable during the “Enough is enough” campaign.
Now the debate isn’t over handgun-driven street crime, which remains low in most of the nation, but over mass attacks committed with rifles.
Again, we don’t believe some single miracle is “sure” to prevent all such massacres. There are a lot of necessary factors, including stricter background checks and mental-health screening.
And we understand that the vast majority of long-gun owners are entirely law-abiding, with legitimate Second Amendment rights.
But as we noted Friday, there is also a need for sensible gun control that, without unduly infringing on those rights, can at least slow the tide and limit the toll of these horrors.
That’s why we called for reinstating the federal assault-weapon ban, raising the age to buy all firearms, banning gun sales to all criminal fugitives and targeting bump stocks.
As well as for driving a stake through the heart of the proposed Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act — which would undo the New York law we pushed for 38 years ago.
Our aim, as we said Friday, has been “to make it harder for those who shouldn’t have firearms to get them” and “to send a message that the nation is cracking down.”
But that’s the same goal we were advocating on this page back when Jimmy Carter was president.