Metro

NYPD commissioner to Trump: More guns are not the solution

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill on Monday dismissed President Trump’s call for armed guards in houses of worship, saying, “I don’t think more guns are the solution.

“If you look at the level of gun violence in New York City, we’re down to record lows, and that’s because we have great gun laws, and I think it’s the way we operate with all New Yorkers and all our law enforcement partners, and all the prosecutors in this city, too. That’s the formula you need to have,” O’Neill said on Fox’s “Good Day New York.”

The city’s top cop was responding to Trump’s call for the gun-toting guards after an anti-Semitic man fatally shot 11 people and wounded six others in a synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning.





On Sunday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former NYPD officer, said he would be bringing his gun to church, given the attack, and urged all off-duty cops to follow suit.

O’Neill noted that all city cops — both on and off duty — are “required” to carry their firearms.

“This is what we do. This is who we are. We get paid to fight crime and keep people safe,” O’Neill said. “Carrying a firearm is part of that. I think all 36,000 uniformed cops in the NYPD understand that.”

The commissioner added that Pittsburgh slay suspect Robert Bowers “was not a nut. He was an anti-Semite, fueled by hate.

“And it’s important for people to make that distinction. Everybody in America should pay attention to what happened out in Pittsburgh on Saturday. That should not happen in the United States of America.”





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