Gun trafficking law works, say supporters, who also call for more gun laws
NEW YORK (PIX11) -- It's the first major federal gun legislation passed in decades, and on Monday, a new report showed the effect that the law known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, or BSCA, is having nationwide and in the tri-state region.
Locally, there's been about a 25% decline in shooting incidents and victims over the last year. The new report, put out by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, shows that the BSCA is part of the reason for the decline. Still, there are calls for more to be done, some of which are coming from the law's supporters.
Gun control legislation out of Washington has been historically rare and very slow in getting approval by Congress when it does come out. Legislation that became the BSCA was first introduced in 2009 but wasn't approved and signed into law until last year.
"This has been such a long time coming," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference on Monday morning alongside Sen. Gillibrand outside police headquarters.
Four of the city's five DAs were on hand. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark had a scheduling conflict but has supported the BSCA.
The new report from the senator looked at the changes the law has brought.
Gillibrand explained a major change in a comment as she stood next to Queens DA Melinda Katz.
Gillibrand said before the law was passed, pointing at the DA.
"She couldn't send law enforcement down to Florida, where the traffickers started to bring all these weapons up and cross state lines to come into New York," Gillibrand said. "Now, she's got a 15-year penalty for that trafficking. It was never a federal crime [before]. It was a misdemeanor of state law."
Last month, Katz led a major gun trafficking bust in which more than 100 guns, most of them semiautomatic, were seized. The case also led to the arrests of three cousins in relation to the alleged gun ring, who now face more serious charges than they would have before the BSCA.
The law is also named in honor of Nyasia Pryear-Yard. She was a 17-year-old Ivy League-bound honor student from Brooklyn who was fatally struck by a stray bullet from an illegal gun in 2009.
Her death, as well as that of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old drill team majorette from Chicago, killed a week after performing in Pres. Barack Obama's second inaugural parade was the inspiration behind the legislation.
According to the new report, it has resulted in more than 200 people being charged with gun trafficking, more than 1,300 guns taken off the streets, and $750 million being awarded to organizations nationwide to provide mental health services to help prevent gun violence.
It's all in the name of Hadiya and Nyasia. After Monday's news conference, PIX11 News spoke with Nyasia's mother, Jennifer Pryear, by phone. She said she's proud of the changes made in her daughter's name.
"It should be more guns off the street because it has no place in Brooklyn. It has no place whatsoever. It's too many lives lost," she said.
Echoing that sentiment, in part, was Gillibrand herself.
She said that while she's proud that the BSCA has been the law of the land for more than a year now, it was frustrating that it had taken so long and that she hopes for more legislation to come. She specifically said that an assault weapons ban is needed at the federal level.