Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears on ABC7

June 23, 2022

Bill Ritter: All right, N.J. Thank you. You heard Mayor Adams in N.J.'s story just now. One of the most outspoken critics of this decision, a former New York cop. I interviewed the mayor moments ago about New Yorkers - he thinks New Yorkers will be affected by this ruling.

Mayor Eric Adams: The decision that was handed down today by the Supreme Court ignores our present state and it endangers our entire future. One thing is clear. America is less safe due to the prediction of gun violence that could come out of this ruling.

Ritter: Is there anything you can do? I know the governor has said she wants to form some sort of legislation that will prevent open carry guns in a lot of places. Can you do anything about this?

Mayor Adams: I just left a call with the governor and several other mayors of large cities in the state. And we are going to come together as one team because what we don't want to do is to have additional rulings in courts or any type of order that would stop us from moving forward in a smart way. We're looking at sensitive locations. We're looking at other areas and other ways we could ensure we isolate this crisis that the Supreme Court has created. And we're still analyzing the ruling.

Ritter: So what do you think it looks like, based on your first blush of this? The subways? Can you take a gun on the subways? Can you take a gun to Broadway? Can you take a gun to Yankee Stadium?

Mayor Adams: We're still looking at it. And we're looking at where we can create a isolated certain sensitive location. But let's be clear. This ruling mentioned New York City. It mentioned Manhattan. And it stated clearly that you cannot identify Manhattan totally as a sensitive location. And so we have to make sure that our lawmakers return to Albany, that we analyze this with our other cities across America. We're going to be holding an emergency communication with all of our large cities. But we must come up with a formidable way that stays within the Supreme Court ruling.

Ritter: You're trying to reopen the city, Mr. Mayor. What is the message that this is sending to visitors here, to people who want to maybe move back? We already have seen a little spike, hopefully for the fall semester for schools getting kids back. What's it going to send? What message does it send to those people?

Adams: Well, a number of things. In 2019, Bill, we had five guns that were in our school system. To date, we're only half the year in and we had 21 guns that were found. And we're sending a message that our young people can carry guns and that guns can be readily accessible with this open carry ruling. That's troubling. But we're going to do our job. The New York City Police Department is obligated. 3,000 guns we've removed off the streets. We're seeing a decrease in homicides and shootings. But the reality is this is making our job far more difficult and is creating a crisis across this country.

Ritter: Mr. Mayor, thank you. I have one more question. Breaking news, you know this already. I want to know if you have any new information about the police officer shot today in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

Adams: No, I'm en route to the hospital now. We were told that the injuries is preliminarily is non-life threatening. We're happy to hear that, but this really leans into the discussion we're having, too many guns in the hands of too many people that are doing dangerous things.

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