Another Gun in NYC – How Will This Play Out

Two tourists to New York City, both of whom had permits to carry their guns in their respective home states, could face time in jail for bringing their totally legal guns to New York City – albeit illegally by NYC law. However, this week The New York Daily News noted that rapper “Cory Gunz,” whose real last name isn’t actually “Gunz” for the record, was arrested for possession of a loaded firearm.

“Rapper Cory Gunz – born Peter Pankey Jr. – was arrested in the Bronx Saturday when cops found he was carrying an unregistered Taurus .9mm handgun, police said.

He was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court Sunday night on charges of criminal possession of a loaded firearm.

His father, rapper Peter Gunz, posted the $30,000 bail.

Here is the part where we are sort of confused… see the quote from Cory:

“This was a big mistake on my part,” Gunz told The Daily News early Monday morning after getting out of jail. “I didn’t have any intentions of harming anyone or committing a criminal activity. So many young people look up to me and I need to fight though this.”

So was the gun part of a fashion or style statement – gun for Gunz? The law isn’t about intentions in this case. The crime was also committed already for mere possession, and Gunz should have known this fact. But it gets more bizarre reports the paper:

Cory Gunz and his dad recently started a campaign called “Gunz Against Guns” where they speak at schools across the Bronx to steer kids away from the deadly weapons, Peter Gunz said.

Now the real question is whether Cory – being semi-rich and famous – will get the same treatment as the two tourists to New York City? Personally we do see a difference in these cases. The tourists in question legally possessed their respective guns but broke the law by bringing them to New York City – believing they could legally carry their firearms.

Cory Gunz however has not only spoke out against guns, but must have known that he was in possession of an illegal firearm in the first place.

Bronx Gun Buyback a Success?

Numerous New York City media outlets are reporting about the “successful” gun buyback in the Bronx, which netted nearly 1,200 firearms… and cost city taxpayers some $184,000 in the process! Of course the NYPD put a good spin on it, according to The New York Daily News, which noted that the police claim to have gotten more than 5,000 “guns off the streets” in recent years:

“We’ll never know, but that’s potentially more than 5,000 lives saved,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said during a press conference at Police Headquarters.

Yes, Police Commissioner Kelly, we’ll never know. We’ll never know if one of these guns was even handed in by a criminal. We’ll never know how many criminals now look to steal guns to sell them for $200, with no questions asked. We’ll never know how many people sold guns that were worthless (or at least worth less than $200) to get a quick score from taxpayers. We’ll never know how many valuable firearms were handed in for a mere $200 as well. We’ll never know.

Gun Buyback in the Bronx

Yet another attempt to “get guns off the streets,” this time in New York City’s The Bronx, an area that unfortunately has no shortage of guns actually on the streets. The question is whether $200 for each firearm turned in would even be enough to persuade anyone to do so?

Of course, maybe it is enough money, at least if this item from EmpireStateNews.net is to be believed:

“Handguns, rifles and shotguns will be accepted, however guns belonging to either active or retired law enforcement officials are not eligible for the buyback program. Functional BB guns and air pistols may be exchanged for a gift card.”

The problem we see time and time again is that the value assigned to the gift cards seldom has anything to do with actual value. We realize this is an attempt to get people to hand in guns for something, but “functional BB guns” are being compared with rifles and shotguns? Amazing!

WABC News Misleads in Tease for “Community Guns”

The tease this past Tuesday from WABC Channel Eye Witness News suggested that “anyone” including “teens” could get their hands on so-called “community guns” in part of New York City. Further it was said that guns were “borrowed” or even being “rented out,” suggesting that maybe a gun shop or other organization was actually offering firearms for rental.

Not so fast. The story actually clears this up, telling that it was gang members in The Bronx who were doing the loaning and offering the guns for rental. In many cases these criminals were leaving the guns in places where they could be easily recovered. The story noted: 

“In March, a round-up of forty-one suspected gang members turned up five guns hidden in a stash house in Washington Heights.” Read more