Last week, a horrifying mass shooting unfolded in the heart of Midtown Manhattan — four lives stolen, families shattered, a city reeling. As New Yorkers mourn, we must confront a painful truth: what happened was entirely preventable.
The firearm used in this massacre was purchased legally in Nevada, a state with weak state gun laws and poor enforcement. Unlike New York, Nevada does not ban assault weapons, does not require permits to purchase them, has no mandatory waiting periods, and has loopholes in its background check system.
Though Nevada does have a red flag law, they are not using their resources to implement it. That’s how a civilian in Nevada acquired a military-style rifle — and used it to terrorize our city.
Some observers will throw up their hands and say, “See? Even in a state like New York with strong gun laws, mass shootings still happen.”
But this narrative is dangerously misleading. The fact is, mass shootings and gun violence generally happen far less frequently in New York precisely because we have strong gun laws. And the majority of gun violence that still plagues our communities is committed with firearms trafficked from out of state — often from places with virtually no safeguards.
New York State has enacted some of the strongest gun safety laws in the country. In addition to comprehensive background checks and an assault weapons ban and dozens of other state gun laws, we also established a NYS Office of Gun Violence Prevention to coordinate resources and enforcement across the state.
We even enacted the first-in-the nation gun industry liability law to hold reckless gun dealers accountable in court. These policies work. New York consistently ranks among the states with the lowest rates of gun deaths and gun-related homicides. New York State has a gun violence rate of 4.7 while Nevada’s is 18.4.
But NYS’s lifesaving state and local laws didn’t materialize by accident.
They exist because New Yorkers have elected gun violence prevention champions at the state and local levels who together have made saving lives a priority. Without their leadership, New York wouldn’t be a national model for common-sense gun safety.
Still, even the strongest state and city laws are limited by the weakest federal ones.
Our borders are porous when it comes to guns. A firearm bought legally in Nevada, Georgia, or Ohio can end up in a New York neighborhood with devastating consequences. The so-called “Iron Pipeline” continues to supply deadly weapons to our streets, despite New York’s best efforts to stop it. We still have a gun violence crisis here in NYC and sometimes these senseless, preventable tragedies catch national headlines. And even more often they do not.
That’s why Congress must act.
We need a number of different solutions and a federal assault weapons ban is one of them. These are weapons of war, designed for military use — not for office buildings, grocery stores, or elementary schools. We also need universal background checks, national licensing requirements, and a coordinated federal strategy to shut down gun trafficking routes.
The bipartisan gun violence prevention law passed in 2022 was an excellent start and the Biden administration helped reduce gun trafficking and straw purchases. But now, President Trump and Congress are rolling back our progress including by dismantling the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and cutting off funding for victims of gun violence.
This is not just about policy. It’s about people.
The four individuals killed in Midtown leave behind children, partners, coworkers, and friends who will carry the trauma of July 28 for the rest of their lives. No city should have to live in fear of the next shooting. No parent should have to imagine if their loved one will be next. No lawmaker should be allowed to look away.
New York has been doing its part and must continue to support survivors and communities plagued by the out-of-state gun trafficking crisis. Our gun violence prevention policies and programs are saving lives. But we can’t do it alone.
Until Congress closes the deadly gaps in our national gun policy, horrors like the one in Midtown will continue to happen — even in the safest states. The cost of inaction is written in blood, in headline after headline, in community after community.
Let this moment be the one that finally moves us — from mourning to action.
Fischer is the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.
