Transcript: Mayor Adams Makes Virtual Gun Violence Prevention-Related Announcement

November 9, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, Noah. We are rightly horrified by the massacre of innocent civilians around the world. Images that sear into our conscious and break our hearts with their brutality, where at home gun violence claims tens of thousands of innocent lives as well, whether it is the daily gun violence that steals too many young lives on our streets every day, firearm suicides that leave families and friends wondering what if their loved one didn't have a gun or acts of violence and terror that allowed one man armed with weapons of war to commit mass atrocities. 

These mass shootings take place in our towns, our houses of worship, our movie theaters and music festivals; and far too often, in our schools. They steal our sense of safety in the places where we should feel safest. Just a few weeks ago, 18 people in Maine were stolen from us by yet another disturbed man wielding an assault rifle that has no business on our streets. 

People just enjoying a night out with friends when they were killed in a horrific act of terror. That shooting took me and shook me to my core. We ask ourselves, what can we do to stop this senseless slaughter? There's a solution and proven method to reduce mass shootings in America: a federal assault weapons ban. We had an assault weapons ban between 1994 and 2004, and it worked. 

Between 1984 and 2004, 137 people were killed in mass shootings, shootings where at least three people were shot and killed. Between 1994 and 2004 when the ban was in effect, 100 people were killed in mass shootings. That number went down. 

But between 2005 and 2015— the 10 years after the assault weapons ban expired— the number skyrocketed, with 326 people killed in mass shootings. Just look at the stats. Mass shooting deaths were 70 percent less likely to occur back when the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high capacity magazines was in effect. 

Put simply, too many humans become mass shooters because we've made it easy for disturbed people to access weapons of war. In some states, it's easier for people to buy a weapon of war than it is for them to buy a Sudafed. Now, thankfully, we in New York City have yet to experience a mass shooting perpetrated with an assault rifle. 

But because we don't have a federal assault weapons ban, I have to worry about someone going to one of our neighbors and inflicting this level of violence. If one of our neighboring states with weak gun laws allow people to get these weapons, it endangers all of us. It can allow them to get a weapon of war and bring devastation back to our streets. 

Mayors across the country are the first ones called when the shooting happens in our city. We are the ones left in charge of shattering communities long after the TV cameras have moved on to the next tragedy. We'll continue to work tirelessly in New York City and cities across the nation to drive shootings down and prevent every form of gun violence whether it is the mass shootings that make the headlines or the daily gun violence and gun suicides that don't. 

But we need our partners in Washington to do their part. Congress must act to get weapons of war off our streets, and they must act now. That is why more than 60 mayors have signed this letter calling on the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, to introduce a bill to ban assault weapons and take it to the floor for a vote. 

Mr. Speaker, you have said that your political beliefs are found in the pages of the Bible and the words of Jesus. Jesus' words of love, faith and non violence should inspire you now to do the right thing, to save lives, and to protect the innocent. I believe in the power of prayer. When it comes to guns, we need the power of political will, too. 

Thoughts and prayers are not enough. You have the power, Mr. Speaker. Use it to protect American lives and keep this nation a place where our families, our friends and our children can live in safety and freedom. New Yorkers and Americans need a federal assault weapons ban. Let's do it now. 

Moderator: Thank you so much, Mayor Adams. We'll now turn to Rob Wilcox, the deputy director of the newly formed White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Rob. 

Rob Wilcox, Special Assistant to the President, Deputy Director, White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention: Thanks. I am Rob Wilcox, a special assistant to the President, and deputy director of the newly created White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. I want to thank the mayor, all the mayors and our colleagues in Everytown for Gun Safety for joining us here. And thank you for your leadership for taking your constituents' pain and turning it into purpose, fighting for the action we need to save lives. 

From the mass shootings in Colorado over 20 years ago to Texas, and now to Lewiston, Maine and the everyday gun violence that we see in our communities, we know that we are experiencing a gun violence crisis. As President Biden said, this is not normal. It doesn't have to be this way. 

The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, this president, will take every step we can [to] implement our laws, ensure that there is funding to support community violence intervention and other solutions, but we know much more needs to be done. We need Congress to act. We need Congress to act to ensure we have funding to support proven interventions, to make sure there are background checks on all gun sales, a national red flag law; and yes, a ban on assault weapons. 

The president has been consistent and clear that this is a critically important part of the solution because he knows that it can be effective. When President Biden was a senator, he helped pass and lead the 1994 assault weapons ban, and that law was effective, and it saved lives. It expired in 2004, and we've seen the devastation that has occurred in its wake, because choices in the boardrooms made weapons of the battlefield accessible in our communities and end up in the hands of people who shouldn't have them. 

Between 2015 to 2022, mass shootings where four and more people were killed that were done with assault weapons had 23 times the number of wounded people 23 times. And researchers who looked at the '94 law and what's happened since said if that law had stayed in place, we would have prevented 30, 30 mass shootings. That would have saved over 1,500 lives. 

We know this law can work and we know we need Congress to act to reinstate it to ensure that as part of a comprehensive solution to gun violence prevention we are getting these weapons of war out of our communities and off our streets. So, the president has been clear and will continue to be clear that we need to invest in communities and proven solutions. We need background checks on all gun sales. We need strong red flag laws. We need to make sure that the gun industry does not have the immunity to escape responsibility for its decisions, and we need to ban assault weapons. 

So, we at the White House commend your actions to lift this important priority and ensure that we are sending a clear message to Congress that we need action now because our kids in our communities deserve it. Thank you so much for having us. 

Moderator: Thanks so much, Rob. I'll now pass it to Mayor Byron Brown from Buffalo, New York. Mayor Brown. 

Mayor Byron Brown: Gun violence in America has grown to epidemic proportions, I thank Mayor Eric Adams for his leadership on the issue of gun violence and for organizing this meeting today for us to call on the new speaker of the U.S. house of representatives to pass an assault weapons ban. 

I also thank my fellow mayors from across the country that have signed on to the letter calling for an assault weapons ban for their leadership and for their work to protect their communities. Finally, I want to thank Everytown for Gun Safety for partnering with mayors and communities across the country on this important issue. 

So far in 2023, America has had at least 531 mass shootings.  Innocent lives are being lost. In the city of Buffalo, May 14th, 2022, 10 innocent members of our community had their lives taken, three others wounded when a white supremacist traveled more than three hours to get to our community with the expressed intention of killing as many Black people as possible using an assault style weapons. 

And just on October 26th of 2023, three workers from the Buffalo Sewer Authority going about their daily work for our community were shot on a New York State thruway three shot, one killed. The shooter is still at large. Young people, all people should not be shot and killed when they're working and doing the right thing serving the needs and interests of their communities. 

So, again I am proud to sign on to this request for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, thankful for the leadership of Mayor Eric Adams. And I implore Americans from all across the country to allow their voices to be heard on this issue. This is affecting all communities, urban, suburban and rural. Thank you. 

Mayor Nancy Rotering: I believe I'm going next. I'm Mayor Nancy Rotering from Highland Park, Illinois. Good morning, everybody. Thank you, Mayor Adams, for calling this press conference. 

At 10:14 a.m. on July 4th, 2022, our community was shattered by one young man shooting 83 rounds in under one minute from a legally obtained weapon designed to devastate as many human bodies as possible. Until a mass shooting arrives in your front yard, you really don't understand the magnitude of its devastation. The U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime tells us that the impact of this one-minute event will last for decades if not lifetimes. 

Mass shootings are a uniquely American problem. Shooters using assault weapons regularly and randomly wreak terror and carnage throughout our nation anywhere and everywhere. As a result, a significant number of Americans have changed their behavior, avoiding everyday places and events out of fear of being shot. As one Highland Park resident noted in July of 2022, it's not only the loss of life but the loss of living life that's impacted. 

Among America's mayors there's the common refrain of "not if but when" a mass shooting will come to our communities. And while there's no handbook for managing the grief and the pain of this all too common American experience, there is a 198-page handbook for mayors sent in the aftermath of a mass shooting— a horrible commentary on the state of our nation. 

Without a federal ban, we know that a single state cannot protect its residents from a mass shooting, because aside from Hawaii, none of us are islands. In January, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Assault Weapons Ban Protect Illinois Communities Act, but Illinois is surrounded by states with lax or no gun restrictions. A quick drive to the next state supplies anyone with a combat weapon. 

And while I recognize that restricting access to assault weapons does not stop all gun violence, banning combat weapons is one common sense step proven to be effective at curbing gun deaths, as shown by the 10-year federal assault weapons ban that Mayor Adams noted that expired in 2004: during that time, our nation experienced a 70 percent drop in mass shooting related deaths. 

This debate isn't about whether we're burdening lawful gun owners with new regulations. Prior assault weapons bans repeatedly have been deemed constitutional; and as recently as last Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld Illinois' statewide assault weapons ban as constitutional. And according to Gallup’s, a majority of Americans support a ban on assault weapons. They recognize the very real threat these weapons pose to our daily lives. 

Let's call gun violence for what it is: terrorism, a threat to our human rights. Mass shootings are a uniquely American problem. In 2022 alone, over 647 mass shootings occurred. Ours was number 309. Think of that data point— the thousands traumatized in Highland Park on that one day— and multiply out the hundreds of communities, the thousands of Americans maimed, killed and traumatized day after day, year after year, decade after decade. 

According to the Giffords Organization, nearly every American will know at least one victim of gun violence in their lifetime. It's well past time to take action. Just as machine guns were banned nearly 100 years ago, assault weapons need to be taken off of our streets. Without a federal assault weapons ban, American lives and American rights are at risk of attack any day, any time, anywhere. It's time to prioritize the public safety of our country and turn thoughts and prayers into action. Thank you. 

Moderator: Thank you so much, Mayor Rotering. I will now pass it to Mayor Jose Sanchez from Monterey Park, California. Mayor Sanchez. 

Mayor Jose Sanchez: I want to thank first of all Mayor Adams and all of the other mayors here today who have worked so hard to try to prevent gun violence but have also been impacted by gun violence. So, I thank Mayor Adams for his advocacy on gun violence prevention and for hosting us here today; and on behalf of the residents of the city of Monterey Park, we thank you for what you're doing. 

It's hard to believe that in my community in about two months we will reach our one year anniversary of a mass shooting that left 11 people dead and many injured— quite possibly one of the deadliest mass shootings in California history. 

It was supposed to be the beginning of the Lunar New Year in my community. It's a time for celebration, a time for being with family. But on the evening of January 21, 11 people perished and the community was wreaked with this tragic loss. Since this tragic day, our community in Monterey Park has been in grief and loss. I've attended countless vigils, masses and remembrances for the victims and their families. 

I know and you know that the only way that we will be able to truly honor the lives that we lost in our communities, will be through gun reform. This is why we are here today to call on Speaker Johnson and our Congress to keep our community safe by banning assault rifles in our country. 

We cannot continue being a nation with hodge podge gun laws that vary by state, because we know that our gun laws are only as good as they are in our neighboring states. We also know that assault weapons have no place in our homes and in our communities. We look at cities that have been impacted by gun violence like Uvalde in Texas and Lewiston in Maine, and what made these shootings more deadly was the presence of an assault rifle. 

I also wish to share that aside from being mayor of my town, I'm also a classroom teacher in fact, I'm in my classroom right now, and I'm a parent of three young girls who also attend schools here in my community. And having to explain to my daughters and my students in my classroom the next day after a shooting was one of the most difficult tasks I had to do as a parent and as an educator. 

One of the things that scares me the most and every parent and educator throughout this country are school shootings. Students should not have to worry about their safety in the classroom due to gun violence, but we know all too well that school shootings are not just a reality but an epidemic. Classrooms in schools were set up to be one of the safest places in our communities, but that's not the case today. We all know that gun violence should not be the leading cause of death for young people, and we owe it to our families and our youth to ban assault weapons today. 

So, I call on Speaker Johnson to protect our families. I call on the Congress to protect my students, who in a matter of minutes will be walking into my classroom. And I ask that we all work together to pass a ban on assault weapons in this country not just to keep our family safe but to keep our whole nation safe. Thank you. 

Moderator: Thank you so much, Mayor Sanchez. For the reporters on the call, if you have a question, please use the raise hand feature and we'll come to you after our final speaker, Monisha Henley, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety. Monisha. 

Monisha Henley, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Everytown for Gun Safety: Thank you, Mayor Adams, for convening us today. I'm Monisha Henley, senior vice president of government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety. As we know, mayors are on the front lines of our gun violence crisis. Across the country we have incredible gun sense mayors who will stop at nothing to keep their community safe. 

But they can't do it alone, especially when weapons of war continue to flood our streets. As we saw with the passage of last year's Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Congress can and must play a key role in preventing gun violence. 

We need Speaker Johnson to step up and take immediate action to reinstate the bipartisan assault weapons ban. We know this can save lives because it worked before. In 1994, Congress passed an assault weapons ban with bipartisan support with 46 Republicans voting in favor. 

One study found that the federal ban reduced the likelihood of a mass shooting by 70 percent. But under the pressure of the gun lobby, Congress let this ban expire. The results have been deadly, as we saw in Lewiston, Highland Park, Buffalo, Monterey Park, and in too many communities across the country. 

The American people are fed up with living in terror that they might be the next victims of a mass shooting. And the vast majority of Americans want to see these deadly weapons taken off our streets. We're so thankful for the mayors here today and every mayor who signed onto the bipartisan letter to Speaker Johnson. We commend them for putting pressure on Congress to protect our communities. 

And as we saw once again this week in Virginia, gun safety isn't just good policy, it's good politics. Everytown proudly joins this group in calling on Speaker Johnson to reinstate the bipartisan assault weapons ban, which will continue to save lives. Thank you. 

Moderator: Thank you so much, Monisha. We'll now go to a few questions, again, for reporters in the room. Please use the raise hand feature in the chat, and we'll come to you in turn. Our first question will be from James Ford at PIX 11. James, you can go ahead and unmute your line. 

Question: Thank you for taking my question and for having this forum. Speaking of which Mayor Adams, since you called this news conference, would welcome response from you and also from Mr. Wilcox and anyone who wants to respond. 

Can you talk a bit more about the logistics of this letter to the speaker? How much support have you gotten from members of Congress in both houses? Is this an effort to get Speaker Johnson to just have a vote at all? 

And are you saying that based on last year's vote in the house, that a [an] assault weapon ban would pass in the current house? It also falls short, as you all know, of the 60 senators having support. So, how can that...so how can an assault weapons ban pass both houses of Congress? And Mayor Adams, can you just tell us why you felt it was so important to convene this group of political leaders? Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. So far, we have 60 mayors from across the country. And right now, it's going to take political courage to match the cowardice behavior of those who are using assault weapons. And we must really focus on how do we look at what the results have shown us in the past, and when the ban was in place before it sunsetted. 

As the mayors have mentioned, it saved lives, and we believe that now is the time when we're seeing repeatedly the assault weapons that are being used for these mass shootings. Now is the time for both houses to look at this and take the political coverage that's needed to get this through. 

We believe with help from our local electeds to lobby Congress in a real way and say that the NRA and those pro-gun groups do not control the destiny of the American people. I am clearly concerned by what I'm seeing, but I believe the mayors know what plays out in national politics. It actually lays out in the streets of our cities across the nation. And that's why it was important to go to the mayors and have them be part of this push to have our national leaders look at this real issue. 

Moderator: Monisha, do you want to weigh in there as well about the example that Virginia sets? 

Henley: Sure. We continue to see that gun sense, as I mentioned before, is not just good policy, it's good politics. We were able to secure a majority in both chambers holding onto the Senate and flipping the house because Virginia voters showed up and said that this issue matters and enough is enough, and this is the exact same pressure we need to put on Congress. 

And we've seen this happen. Last year after Uvalde, people didn't believe that Congress was going to act, but we were able to break a 30-year log jam and pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and that's the exact type of pressure we're going to put on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban. 

Question: Thanks, Monisha. And Rob, was there anything you wanted to add before we move to our next question? 

Wilcox: So, the president has been very clear that we need Congress to act. And I think for those who have felt the pain and heartbreak of this movement, we've believed in the promise of progress. And last year, we saw... 

In 2013, after a horrible shooting in Connecticut, there was a vote in the Senate on one policy, and it only got 54 votes. Last year, we saw two horrific shootings in the Buffalo community and in Texas that again spurred the Senate to act. Instead of 54 votes, there were 65. 

That promise of progress became reality and we saw bipartisan work on gun safety. And the reason why this is so important, and I commend Mayor Adams and the other mayors on this call, is because we need to be clear and consistent that we need action from Congress now. We need them at the table. We need them working on the solutions that we know work, including assault weapons ban. 

The question of can we get it done in Congress has been answered. That answer is yes. This movement is strong and powerful, and the American people are calling for change and we need action on assault weapons ban and a comprehensive approach to gun safety. 

Moderator: Great. Thanks, Rob. Our next question will be from Mike Gartland with the Daily News. Mike, you can go ahead and unmute your line. 

Question: ... this today. Back to the question before, is there a sense of how much support there is in the House and Senate on this? And I mean, I understand the support [has] increased over time, as Rob said, but what else is different here? I mean, what else is giving you a sense of hope here after we've seen for so many years kind of deadlock on this thing? And I mean, I acknowledge that the law that passed earlier on it, but I mean, what's different? 

And also again, if you could give me some sense of the support in Congress, numbers, if you have a sense of that? 

Mayor Adams: Well, I believe, Michael, unfortunately it takes real tragedies before far too many of our laws are implemented. Many of the laws we see in place today are named after particular people or incidents. And I believe after the Uvalde shooting, you saw...Congress saw the urgencies that they were faced with. 

And once again, we are seeing mass shootings that are playing out. And I think there's a window of opportunity, that stagnation that was in place, the American people once again believe that this is the time to put in place a real true assault weapons ban. 

And we need to use this moment as it was indicated that we have to turn this painful moment into a purposeful moment. And that is where I think the opportunity's going to come from, from the American people speaking with their national lawmakers. 

Moderator: Thanks so much, Mayor Adams. Do any of our other mayors on the call want to jump in here? 

Mayor Rotering: If I could just make the note. We saw in the wake of the Lewiston, Maine shooting a change of heart by their member of Congress. I think, sadly, as more and more communities see this happening, recognize that it could happen anytime, anywhere. 

Hopefully, folks who use guns for sport will speak up and say, while we recognize that this is something that we view as our right, this kind of firepower, this kind of magnitude has no place in civilian hands. 

We saw some of that in the wake of the Highland Park shooting. People whose family members were directly impacted, who previously hadn't thought much about the issue, had a sudden change of heart. They don't live in Illinois. They're reaching out to their members of Congress. 

I think that's where the action will have to take place, but obviously as this public health epidemic continues to spread throughout all communities we're going to see, I hope more of a sense of this is too much to have in public hands. 

Mayor Brown: What Mayor Adams and what Mayor Rotering have said, this keeps happening and more and more communities are being affected. And when communities are affected, the people whose lives have been impacted, whose lives have been changed, reach out to their member of Congress and put pressure on their member of Congress to speak up and do something. 

And so, because sadly, horrifically, this keeps happening in America in all kinds of communities, urban, suburban and rural, Americans are going [to] continue to lift their voices up and say to their lawmakers that an assault weapons ban needs to be passed. 

Moderator: Thank you so much, Mayor Brown and Mayor Rotering. If any other reporters have questions, please use the raise hand feature in the chat. We'll give it another few seconds to see if there are any last minute questions. We've got one last question from Ethan Stark-Miller with AM New York. Ethan, you can go ahead and unmute your line. 

Question: Can you hear me? 

Moderator: Yes, we can. 

Question: Okay. Mayor Adams, I'm just wondering, you know, how concerned are you that someone with an assault weapon could, you know, perpetrate a mass shooting in the five boroughs? I mean, as you know, so far, we really haven't seen that. But considering the prevalence of these weapons in our country, you know, it's not impossible. 

Mayor Adams: Extremely concerned. As I have mentioned coming out of the Hamas horrific attacks on Israeli citizens, that cancer has spread throughout the entire globe in general, but particularly, we're seeing an increase in hate crimes after the October seventh attack around antisemitism. And there's always a concern about long wolves that are radicalized through social media or the Internet. 

And so, when you allow someone with mental health or mental illnesses to have access to these assault rifles, it could create a great deal of danger, particularly, in an area like New York City that's densely populated with 8.3 million people. 

So, it's extremely alarming, and that is why we must do everything possible to ensure these guns are not in the hands of those who do not have to admit the capacity to have these weapons. 

Moderator: Thanks so much. That's all the time we have here today. Thank you to the mayors, to Deputy Director Wilcox, to Monisha, to all the reporters and other folks who joined today for your coverage and attention to this important issue. Thanks so much. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you, colleagues, and thank you, deputy director. 

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