by Letitia James is the Attorney General of New York. She recently published her 2019 Year in Review. Reading through this 62 page report gives you some indication of her attitudes and intentions towards gun owners and gun rights groups.
Michael Bane often says on his podcast that if someone says they plan to do you harm, take them at their word. James said in her campaign platform she intended to investigate the charitable status of the NRA. Indeed, that was the number one item on her bullet list dealing with “gun violence” (sic).
As we know, her office has followed through on that threat. The letter that prefaces her 2019 Year in Review noted that she had “opened an investigation into the NRA’s charitable practices “.
Pages 43 and 44 deal with her plans regarding firearms.
Gun violence is a public health epidemic in New York and across the nation. Every loss of life and injury from gun violence is a devastating reminder of our shared responsibility to face this crisis head on and to support the communities that have suffered from its effects. Attorney General James is committed to catching criminals who traffic illegal weapons onto our streets, and holding them accountable. She has taken legal action to protect states’ rights to enact common sense gun safety regulations, including leading a multistate coalition to protect New York’s right to implement these critical measures, which is currently being heard by the United States Supreme Court. She has also partnered with law enforcement agencies across the state to host gun buyback programs and get illegal guns out of our communities. She will continue to pursue every avenue available to reduce gun violence in New York.
By stating that the criminal misuse of a firearm is a “public health epidemic”, James conveniently sidesteps criminal justice steps targeted at the violent criminal actors. Criminal justice is actually not high on her radar if you read the highlights of her annual report. It appears she is more interested in abortion rights, climate change, and protecting New Yorkers “regressive Federal policies” of the Trump Administration than even “gun violence” (sic).
I find it interesting that she resorts to “states’ rights” to defend the repressive gun control laws in her state which leave the poorest at the mercy of criminals. John C. Calhoun would be proud of her use of states’ right to defend the indefensible. He used it to defend slavery and she uses it to defend the denigration of the right to keep and bear arms.
With regard to so-called “ghost guns”, she devotes a whole paragraph to them
The New York Attorney General’s Office was the first law enforcement agency in the nation to charge people for selling so-called ghost guns, or guns that are manufactured from parts sold over the Internet. These guns do not have serial numbers, so they are untraceable by law enforcement. Continuing on these enforcement efforts, in September 2019, Attorney General James directed 16 websites to cease and desist selling nearly complete assault weapons to consumers in New York. Attorney General James will continue to go after those that skirt the law to manufacture illegal and deadly assault weapons.
She then goes on to tout her support for gun buybacks.
Our neighborhoods are safer when unwanted firearms are off our streets and out of our homes. Attorney General James’ Gun Buyback Program provides a safe option for New Yorkers to get rid of guns they do not want, on a “no questions asked” basis. In 2019, Attorney General James partnered with local law enforcement agencies to host 24 gun buyback events at houses of worship and community centers all across the state. As a result of these events, the office recovered over 2,700 guns.
So in one paragraph she opines that “ghost guns” are unserialized making them untraceable by law enforcement. Then she proudly states she provided a safe option to get rid of guns people didn’t want on a no questions asked basis. I can’t be the only one to see the contradiction here. She is against guns being untraceable but is OK with guns actually used in violent crimes not being able to be traced to the violent criminal.
Finally, for some reason, she lumps police body cameras in with her section of “gun violence” (sic).
I guess when New Yorkers elected James they felt they were electing someone who wouldn’t engage in domestic violence like her predecessor nor hire prostitutes like her penultimate predecessor. That was kind of a low bar that even Tish James could hurdle.