Gov. Andrew Cuomo Blames South for New York’s Gun Violence

On September 17, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) told an audience at a Harlem breakfast that New York’s surging gun violence was not his fault or proof of the failure of gun control, but was the fault of states “down south.”

Cuomo’s words came the day after his ex-aide Carey Gabay died from a gunshot wound he received when caught in the crossfire of gun violence.

Breitbart News previously reported there were at least four shootings and one stabbing during Brooklyn’s September 7 J’Ouvert festival. Gabay was shot in the head at that festival.

According to the New York Daily News, Cuomo told Harlem breakfast attendees, “The cruel irony here is that we passed the toughest gun control law in the country here in New York.” He was talking about the SAFE Act, which requires firearm registration, bans “assault rifles,” bans “high capacity” ammunition magazines, and expands background checks, all with the promise of reducing gun violence.

But it has not worked. In fact, gun violence in New York City is surging this year.

So Cuomo is blaming the South. “As long as you can get a gun from some state down south, put it in a trunk and drive it up, it’s gonna get into this state, and that’s what’s happening.”

The gunman, however, has not been apprehended nor the source of his gun ascertained. But this did not stop Cuomo from pushing more gun control, saying, “It comes back to the craziness of the gun violence that we allow to occur. I am a gun owner. I’m not anti-gun. I’m anti-gun for mentally ill people and criminals.”

He said Congress needs to address guns with “guts and courage.”

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.