A brutal attack on a man in New York City’s Times Square—a so-called “sensitive area” where guns have been banned, even if legally licensed—brought a swift reaction from a national gun rights organization which said the restriction disarms the wrong people.
In any given year, according to FBI annual crime data, more people are actually murdered with knives or other cutting instruments than are killed with rifles or shotguns. There are no waiting periods or background checks on knives, machetes or other cutting tools.
According to the New York Post, an unidentified man was stabbed in both legs by a machete-wielding individual, and three suspects had been detained by New York Police. The attack occurred outside of a McDonald’s restaurant. Under New York statute, firearms are prohibited in Times Square even if someone is legally licensed to carry.
WNBC said the victim was transported to the hospital while police searched for the suspects. All three have been arrested, but that is of little comfort or consolation to people who are defenseless, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms indicated.
“New York officials have declared Times Square and other public venues to be ‘sensitive places,’ leaving people vulnerable to attack by criminals who don’t follow the rules,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that disarming good citizens creates risk-free environments for dangerous thugs and crazy people to engage in savagery. The people responsible for disarming law-abiding citizens in Times Square are clueless when it comes to dealing with violent crime.”
Times Square and other public places were designated “sensitive areas” by legislation adopted in the aftermath of the 2022 Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling which nullified the Empire State’s century-long unconstitutional “good cause” concealed carry permit requirement. Instead of accepting the high court ruling in good faith, lawmakers in Albany and New York City scrambled to keep their carry laws as restrictive as possible. Even people living within the new “sensitive areas” who had previously been able tom have guns in their homes or shops now must get their guns out of the area.
Meanwhile, it is obvious the criminal element has either ignored the gun ban, or simply turned to other types of weapons.
“Prohibiting legally-carried guns in any public place is an exercise of gross misfeasance,” Gottlieb said. “This incident only proves that criminals will adapt to other weapons, and presuming ‘sensitive zone’ disarmament will prevent violent crime is a monumental failure of common sense.”
CCRKBA said the stabbing incident “proves the proponents of so-called “sensitive zones” are clueless.”
“Somewhere in city hall, or maybe up in Albany, somebody in government is probably working up a way to spin this tragedy so the mayor or governor can argue that at least a gun wasn’t involved,” Gottlieb observed. “Armed private citizens defend themselves or others upwards of a million times each year, often without firing a shot, but apparently in New York, government is on the side of the criminal element.”
