(The Center Square) – Elected officials on both sides of the political aisle are taking familiar sides in the gun control debate following Monday’s shooting in New York City, with Democrats renewing calls for stricter firearm laws and Republicans suggesting tougher police tactics.
The shooting, the deadliest gun attack in New York City in the past two decades, began when a gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire at a midtown Manhattan office building, killing four people including a police officer, authorities said. Several others were injured.
The shooter, 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura, died on the scene of a self-inflicted gun wound, authorities said.
Tamura, who was reportedly armed with an AR-15 assault-style rifle, carried out the attack after driving to New York from Las Vegas, police said. He was apparently targeting the NFL offices in the building, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams said a note was found in Tamura’s pocket listing grievances with the NFL and saying he suffered from CTE. The acronym is for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease linked to head trauma. Tamura played competitive football in his youth including high school, authorities said.
Tamura did not play in the NFL.
The shooting has rekindled a debate over gun control laws in a state with a Democratic trifecta that has already some of the toughest firearm regulations in the nation.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hocuhl called the shooting a “horrific act of violence” and blamed other states with “weak gun laws” for allowing the shooter to purchase a “weapon of war” to kill “innocent” civilians in her state. She called for a national assault weapon ban.
“New York has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation,” Hochul said in a statement. “We banned assault weapons. We strengthened our Red Flag Law. We closed dangerous loopholes. But our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder.”
“The American people are tired of thoughts and prayers. They deserve action,” Hochul added. “Congress must summon the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and finally pass a national assault weapons ban before more innocent lives are stolen.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, called the shooting “tragic and horrifying” and said it was up to Congress to act to prevent more violence.
“The gun violence epidemic continues to afflict our country and now has shattered lives in our great city,” he said in a statement. “The time has come for decisive action.”
Republicans pushed back on the Democratic calls for renewing the federal assault weapons ban and called for tougher law-enforcement tactics and expanded mental health services.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefank, a Staten Island Republican, said the shooting rampage is a reminder to every New Yorker and American “that our brave men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the live every single day to keep communities safe.”
She also took a swipe at mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s support for documented “defund the police” initiatives.
“We cannot allow radical anti-police dangerous policies to continue to make it less safe for families, especially law enforcement officers in NY,” she posted on social media.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, dismissed claims that gun control laws would help make the public safer, and said New York City should instead consider bringing back stop-and-frisk, a policy that was discontinued under former Democratic Mayor Bill DeBlasio.
“We’ve got hundreds of gun control laws, maybe thousands,” Kennedy told Fox News on Tuesday. “We don’t need more gun control, we need more idiot control.”
Second-term Republican President Donald Trump condemned the shooting and said he expects law enforcement officials to “get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence.”
“My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Trump wrote on social media.
