Two 18-year-olds are in custody after allegedly firing a gun in New York City’s 42nd Street-Port Authority subway station on Monday night. The station is located in Times Square, which I guess makes it a double “gun-free zone” since both the New York City transit system and Times Square are designated as “sensitive places” where lawful concealed carry isn’t allowed.
Despite that designation, and the fact that New York City law forbids possession of pistols for those under the age of 21, at least one of the teens apparently had little problem acquiring a handgun and bringing it into the Port Authority station… though the NYPD has yet to locate the gun itself.
Ronald Gutierrez and Carlos Loyo Jhean, both 18, were taken into custody in connection with the incident around 8:30 p.m. at the 42nd Street–Port Authority subway station. Authorities said the shooting happened on the mezzanine level for the A, C and E trains.
Officers responding to a 911 call about shots fired at the station recovered one shell casing, but did not recover the gun used, officials said. Police were still investigating whom the teens were targeting and said no one was hit.
Gutierrez was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal weapons possession for allegedly having a knife, and theft of service, which normally stems from jumping a turnstile, according to the NYPD. Officials gave his address as the nearby Row Hotel on 8th Avenue in Midtown, which over the past few years has served as one of the city’s largest shelters for migrant families.
We don’t know for sure if Gutierrez is one of those migrants, but if so it wouldn’t be the first time a migrant teen has fired shots in Times Square. Last February a 15-year-old Venezuelan migrant was arrested and charged with attempted murder after a shooting that injured a tourist from Brazil at a store in Times Square.
These cases underscore the fact that in New York City it’s much easier to illegally get and carry a gun than it is to exercise your Second Amendment rights in compliance with New York law. Teenage migrants can get a pistol from illicit sources so long as they have cash on hand, but a Manhattan resident who would like to protect themselves from violent thugs have to undergo mandatory firearms training, spend hundreds of dollars in application fees, and wait for months on end before they’re granted permission by the NYPD Licensing Division to keep a gun in their home or carry one in the few places in the Big Apple that aren’t off-limits to concealed carry.
It’s no wonder that some folks who aren’t violent criminals decide to keep or carry a gun without going through the city’s draconian permitting process. Some might be able to afford the cost of applying for a permit, while others may not want to wait for a year or more before they can protect themselves from a stalker or abuser. I’m sure there’s a fair number of illicit gun owners in New York City who’ve decided the risk of prosecution is worth being able to exercise their right to self-defense if necessary, but as the case of Charles Foehner proves, prosecutors have no qualms about sending someone to prison for possessing a gun without a permit, even if they used it to fend off a violent attacker.
New York City’s gun laws are incredibly restrictive, but that doesn’t mean they’re particularly effective at stopping illegal gun possession. Back in September, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the NYPD had seized more than 23,700 guns since January, 2022. Last month, The Trace reported that the NYPD has issued more than 17,000 concealed carry permits since June, 2022. Those 23,700 seized firearms don’t account for every gun that’s illegally carried or kept in the home, just those discovered by police, but it’s still a significantly higher figure than the number of New Yorkers granted permission to exercise their right to carry.
New York’s gun control laws are far better at controlling legal access to firearms than stopping criminals from getting ahold of a handgun. We see proof of that on a regular basis. So what can be done? There are ongoing legal challenges to the city’s licensing process, but I’d love to see the Department of Justice’s new Second Amendment Section of the Civil Rights Division put New York City on notice that its aggressive infringement on a constitutionally protected right must come to an end.
Editor’s Note: Anti-gunners want to turn the entire country into a gun-free zone.
Help us continue to push back on their unconstitutional efforts. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.
Read the full article here
