New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo renewed calls for national gun-control legislation after one of his aides was critically injured by a stray bullet in crossfire between two rival gangs in Brooklyn, reports the Christian Science Monitor. After the 2012 school shootings in Newtown, Ct., Cuomo oversaw passage of gun control laws that are considered among the nation’s strictest. President Obama launched an aggressive gun-control push, but his efforts failed in Congress.
Cuomo told CNN that a national policy is needed to stop the flow of weapons into New York from other states. “Elected officials have to have the political courage to step up and say, ‘This weekly, ongoing tragedy of loss of life, of innocent victims, school children, young girls, young boys, must stop,’ ” he said. Cuomo noted that he owns a shotgun for hunting, and said he is “not anti-gun.” “You have to check everyone before they buy the gun. And that is the rub. People who are law-abiding citizens say ‘Don’t bother me. Don’t check me. Only check the criminal.’ But you can’t check the criminal unless you check everyone,” he said. His aide was injured during a party celebrating the West Indian Day Parade, the latest in a string of injuries and fatalities that have plagued the parade for years.