16 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 8, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens pols condemn massacres, call for new gun laws
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e presumptive nominee for Queens
district attorney called the mass shootings
in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that
killed 29 people in less than 24 hours this
past weekend “heart-wrenching.”
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz, who declared victory over Tiff any
Cabán in the race aft er the city Board of
Elections certifi ed her as the winner on
July 29, said her thoughts are with the victims
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, who may be the borough’s next district attorney, calls on
the federal government to pass reasonable gun control measures after two mass shootings over the
weekend.
GOP leaders back new gun laws, give Trump pass on rhetoric
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Following a violent weekend in
America, two of Queens’ Republican leaders
said they supported calls for greater
gun control laws — but dismissed allegations
that President Donald Trump’s rhetoric
had helped to fuel the hateful motivations
of one mass shooter.
Joann Ariola told QNS on Aug. 5 that
she supports the president’s statement
of reducing gun violence through better
identifi cation of potential gun buyers
experiencing mental health issues,
and noted that as chair of the Queens
County Republican Party she condemns
any hate speech among her members or
in her clubs.
“I think that Trump is right on point;
it’s mental illness that’s pulling the trigger
and not the guns,” Ariola said, paraphrasing
the president’s remarks from earlier
that morning. “However, there does have
to be better red-fl agging, better background
checks, better history for people
who are registering to be gun owners.
… As county chair, I’ve taken an initiative
against clubs and members of our
party who have people coming to them
to speak who are part of hate groups and
I have disavowed any type of hate speak
within our party.”
Ariola added that the county GOP plans
to put candidates on the ballot to take on
elected offi cials such as Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who Ariola
believes is divisive in her discourse with
the public.
Meanwhile, Councilman Eric Ulrich
— the only sitting Republican lawmaker
representing Queens — called for action
against domestic terrorism and in favor of
better gun control laws.
“You can still support the 2nd
Amendment and common sense gun control
measures — the two are not mutually
exclusive,” Ulrich wrote on Twitter
Sunday. “Domestic terrorism is the greatest
threat facing our country right now.
We need to recognize that these senseless
acts of gun violence are not random, isolated
incidents. How many more innocent
Americans must die before we act?”
Asked whether he believed Trump’s
rhetoric was, in any way, responsible for
the rise of white supremacy and mass
shootings in America, Ulrich said he
didn’t think so — then suggested that
blaming Trump was a matter of politics.
“It’s disappointing that some Democratic
presidential hopefuls would use these
tragedies to put the blame squarely on
Trump,” Ulrich said. “Th e president
has repeatedly condemned these senseless
acts of violence. Did the media hold
Presidents Clinton and Obama responsible
for the massacres at Columbine or
Sandy Hook? I don’t think so. I understand
the country is divided and we are
entering the 2020 election cycle but at
what point do we simply put politics aside
and try to come up with solutions for how
to end gun violence in America?”
Th e El Paso shooter, Patrick Crusius,
21, posted a manifesto online that targeted
immigrants with language that equated
migration to an “invasion” and support
for Trump. Th is echoed statements
the president made at a recent campaign
rally, in which he said, “You look at what
is marching up, that is an invasion! Th at is
an invasion!”
Th e president tweeted similar comments
back in January and, in a March
address at the White House, referred to
the arrival of migrants at the southern
border as an invasion, saying specifi cally,
“It’s an invasion of drugs and criminals
and people.”
By contrast, the shooter in Dayton,
Connor Betts, reportedly posted support
for presidential candidate Elizabeth
Warren on Twitter and expressed left -
wing views, according to Heavy.com.
Warren, however, has not made any
comparable provocations in public.
Bill Parry contributed to this report.
and their loved ones and she is grateful
to the fi rst responders whose bravery
saved lives in both cities.
“Mass shooting like these are sadly not
new to us, and we need to reckon not just
with the epidemic of mass shootings and
gun violence in America, but its causes,”
Katz said on Aug. 4. “We cannot continue
to turn a blind eye to the racism and white
supremacy that lead to domestic terrorism
attacks like yesterday’s in El Paso. We
cannot continue to pretend that access to
weapons of war does to enable massacres
like yesterday’s in Dayton.”
Katz edged Cabán by just 60 votes that
was determined by a recount last month
aft er she performed solidly in southeast
Queens, where she has worked hard to
reduce gun violence in the most vulnerable
neighborhoods in the borough,
collaborating with organizations such as
the Kings of Kings Foundation in Far
Rockaway and LIFE Camp in Jamaica.
“We cannot forget that the lack of reasonable
gun control legislation in America
puts Queens families in harm’s way every
single day,” Katz said. “From fi nally passing
HR8 to passing a ban on assault weapons
to implementing ‘Cure Violence’ programs
in partnership with community
groups throughout Queens to investing in
mental health programs citywide to using
the full power of the law to prevent hate
crimes, we must do more to protect our
communities from gun violence.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo, who passed
sweeping gun control legislation in the
aft ermath of the Sandy Hook massacre in
2013 and signed several new gun control
measure into law just last week, said the
country is under attack from within from
the federal government’s inaction.
“Th is insanity must stop and it must
stop now. Th ose who are unwilling to do
anything about it are complicit,” Cuomo
fumed. “I am sick of excuses. I don’t want
to hear, ‘We can’t,’ because we know you
can, and you just ‘don’t.’ In New York we
are standing up for sensible gun safety
laws to keep our families and children
safe and speaking out against the bigotry
and hateful rhetoric fueling many of
these attacks. Washington must do the
same.”
President Donald Trump addressed the
nation from the White House Monday
morning calling on Congress to pass red
fl ag laws to identify those liable to commit
such crimes. He added that Washington
“must come together” in the wake of
the shootings to “get strong background
checks” for gun users.
State Senator Michael Gianaris of
Astoria did just that last week when his
30-day background check waiting period
was enacted last week when the governor
signed it into law.
“Commonsense gun safety will save
lives, period. Stronger background checks
will keep guns away from dangerous people,”
Gianaris said. “Th is epidemic of gun
violence in our country is terrifying. We
need to get the guns off the streets and out
of the hands of dangerous people.”
Photo: Cassandra Karas/Flickr Creative Commons
/Heavy.com
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