NYC Mayor Eric Adams Blames Rise In Violence On America’s ‘Fixation With Guns’

Screenshot/Up Close

New York City Mayor Eric Adams blamed the increase in crime in January on the America’s “fixation with guns” in an interview Sunday.

WATCH:

 

“Our fixation with guns in our country is destroying our children,” Adams told ABC7NY’s Bill Ritter when asked about the recent surge in violent crime. “And when you look at it I say this over and over again we have a sea of violence in our city and country, and there are many rivers that are feeding that sea. We must dam each one.”

Adams was went on to discuss his blueprint for solving the issue of gun violence. “I didn’t talk about one place,” he said. “I did a holistic approach to state, ‘This is what we must do on every level of government. Let’s sit down and engage in a conversation of how to accomplish that.'” (RELATED: Two NYPD Officers Shot, Suspect Dead After Harlem Shooting)

Ritter pointed out that Adams’ blueprint would focus on 30% of New York’s precincts that account for 80% of the violence in the city. Ritter asked how this would effect minorities, whom he described as both the disproportionate “victims” and “perpetrators” of crime.

Adams responded by noting that his blueprint would focus on supporting the on-the-ground crisis management teams by linking them with every agency in New York City to focus on the issue of gun violence.

“As we tell gang members to get out of gangs, we’re also going to give them the job opportunities,” Adams said. “If the Department of Sanitation needs to pick up trash because someone is hiding drugs and guns in a location, my crisis management team would be able to call that agency and get stuff done.”

Adams’ statements follow a surge in violent crime sweeping through the country. Two New York City police officers, Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera, were killed after responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem on Jan. 21.