Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

NY AG: “In Some Parts of New York State, You Can Find a Gun More Easily Than You Can Find an Apple”

Monday, September 27, 2021

NY AG: “In Some Parts of New York State, You Can Find a Gun More Easily Than You Can Find an Apple”

A local paper quoted New York State Attorney General Letitia James as saying, recently, “What’s so tragic is that in some parts of New York State, you can find a gun more easily than you can find an apple.”

Problem is, New York State is flush with apples. According to the U.S. Apple Association, out of the 32 states that grow apples commercially, New York State is the second largest producer of the fruit in the country. Last year, for example, the yield was an estimated 1,385,000,000 pounds of apples. The New York Apple Association even has a “find apples” search feature on its website. 

Compounding her very strange comment is the fact that New York State – A-rated by gun control groups like Giffords – already has what are arguably the nation’s most restrictive gun control laws. In fact, Giffords claims the state “serves as a national model.” A few highlights of this model regime include a mandatory NICS check by a licensed gun dealer prior to almost every transfer, sale, exchange, or disposal of a firearm in the state. A state license is required to possess a handgun. Although the state does not publish data on carry licensing, one estimate is that only 1.27% of the state’s adult population has been issued a carry license, and New York does not recognize any other jurisdiction’s carry licenses or permits. There is a long list of persons who are prohibited from possessing guns of any kind – felons, those convicted of a “serious offense,” the mentally ill, anyone subject to a protection order, and others. “Assault weapons” (except for those grandfathered in and registered with the police) are banned, as are “large capacity magazines.” New York City – the Big Apple – has its own more prohibitive gun control laws. 

The odds of simply “finding” a gun are made even more unlikely due to a state law that requires every owner or custodian of a gun, in specified circumstances, to keep the gun in a “safe storage depository” or otherwise secured so it is incapable of being fired, and all persons lawfully in possession of a gun must report its loss or theft to law enforcement within 24 hours.  

Of course, guns and lawful gun owners are not behind the surge in gang and violent crime in the state. 

A “friend of the court” brief filed by law enforcement groups (including the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and the National Association of Chiefs of Police) in the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen emphasizes this point. “Evidence and law enforcement experience confirm that most violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, whose criminal records generally render them ineligible even to possess firearms.” The brief cites an analysis of homicides done by the New York Times which revealed that “more than 90% of the killers in New York City had criminal records, as did more than half of those killed.” Additional factors fueling the crisis in crime, according to the brief, are the failure of politicians and prosecutors to respond to the “accelerating criminality” that erupted last year, and the impact on public safety when politicians defund and delegitimize the police. In New York City, for example, the number of shooting victims increased by 78.6%, (with a staggering 165.7% increase in the Bronx alone) in the one-year period from May 2020 to May 2021. 

The NYAG must take her cues from former President Barack Obama. Back in 2015, then President Obama misleadingly sought to describe the “availability of guns” by proclaiming that “you can go on into some neighborhoods, and it’s easier for you to buy a firearm than it is for you to buy a book, there are neighborhoods where it’s easier for you to buy a handgun and clips than it is for you to buy a fresh vegetable.” He repeated a variant of the claim even after the Washington Post’s fact checker determined that the statement was a three-Pinocchio rated falsehood. Not only was the president “playing fast and loose with his language,” the fact checker ruled that the statement was “just a very strange comment that appears to have no statistical basis… As far as we know, there are no areas in the United States where background checks are needed to buy vegetables.”  

Fundamentally, the problem is that criminals in New York State and across the country aren’t looking for healthy snacks and aren’t interested in complying with the law. Resorting to silly and discredited hyperbole simply trivializes the violent crime epidemic that confronts our nation – and that’s the real tragedy.

TRENDING NOW
United Nation’s Attack on Ammunition Formally Begins

News  

Monday, July 7, 2025

United Nation’s Attack on Ammunition Formally Begins

The recently concluded negotiations on the United Nations’ Global Framework on Through-Life Conventional Ammunition Management (Framework) should be of grave concern to anyone who values the constitutional protections afforded by the Second Amendment. 

U.K. Embarks on Fresh Knife Amnesty, Reminds Americans Why 1776 was a Good Idea

News  

Monday, July 7, 2025

U.K. Embarks on Fresh Knife Amnesty, Reminds Americans Why 1776 was a Good Idea

It has been a while since we’ve looked at weapon news from across the pond, but with Americans everywhere having just celebrated the Glorious Fourth and our independence from British monarchy, the timing seems particular ...

NRA and 2A Allies Announce NFA Lawsuit

Monday, July 7, 2025

NRA and 2A Allies Announce NFA Lawsuit

Following the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill”—which eliminates the National Firearms Act of 1934’s (NFA) excise tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs—the National Rifle Association issued a joint statement along with the ...

President Trump Signs the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into Law

News  

Friday, July 4, 2025

President Trump Signs the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into Law

Earlier today, on the 4th of July, a day on which our Founding Fathers declared their intent for a free nation, the President of the United State of America, Donald Trump, signed the “One Big ...

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

News  

Second Amendment  

Thursday, May 22, 2025

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

Congress Passes the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Now Headed to President Trump

News  

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Congress Passes the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Now Headed to President Trump

Earlier today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This bill contained a provision that would, among other things, eliminate the burdensome $200 excise tax imposed by federal law on suppressors, short-barreled firearms, ...

Maine: Public University Professor Belittles Student for 2A and Religious Views

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Maine: Public University Professor Belittles Student for 2A and Religious Views

Maine's public education system has recently faced national scrutiny, and it appears things are only getting worse, not better, in the Pine Tree State. 

Progress in the Fight to Protect the Firearms Industry and Gun Owners from Financial Discrimination

News  

Monday, July 7, 2025

Progress in the Fight to Protect the Firearms Industry and Gun Owners from Financial Discrimination

In June, the American firearms industry lodged a resounding victory against attempts by gun control advocates to put it out of business with frivolous lawsuits when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 9-0 ruling in Smith & Wesson ...

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, NORRIS N. JERNIGAN!

Take Action  

Monday, July 7, 2025

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, NORRIS N. JERNIGAN!

As we celebrate this remarkable milestone for this remarkable man, we honor the life and legacy of Norris N. Jernigan, a World War II veteran who served in the intelligence office with the 393rd Bomb Squadron of the ...

Maine: Lawmakers Call for Anti-2A Progressive Professor to Be Fired

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Maine: Lawmakers Call for Anti-2A Progressive Professor to Be Fired

In case you missed the media firestorm last week, a progressive professor at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, Maine, has come under fire for her emails belittling a student for her religious beliefs and views ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.