Could New York City Have a Pro-Gun Mayor?
Jose Nino
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Over the last year, New York City has experienced a surge in homicides, largely the product of New York’s soft-on-crime policies and the rampant unrest that followed the death of George Floyd.
One mayoral candidate in NYC wants to change that by allowing lawful citizens to have easier access to firearms.
Fernando Mateo is campaigning on a pro-Second Amendment platform as a means to provide some semblance of public safety in New York City, especially at a time when law enforcement can’t be counted on to provide the most basic of services.
In an interview with Breitbart News on May 11, 2021, Mateo said that the process for acquiring a handgun permit in NYC was “slow, nearly impossible, and then issuance of permits stopped altogether.”
Mateo, who is running under the Republican banner, also observed that under the Democrat’s watch, carry permit renewals were delayed for over six months, and according to AWR Hawkins of Breitbart, they “eventually came to a grinding halt.”
Part of Mateo’s main policy plank, should he be elected as mayor, is to make sure that carry permits are issued in a timely manner.
He declared, “As mayor I will direct NYPD to expedite the process of issuing carrying permits. Perform the checks that need to be performed, but do it in a timely manner and then issue the permit law-abiding citizens aren’t the threat, criminals are the threat, and right now, criminals are preying on law-abiding citizens because they know those citizens can’t defend themselves.”
In his plan to re-arm New Yorkers, Mateo will push for small business owners to apply for permits, in addition to the average lawful resident of NYC.
Mateo noted that Democrat politicians are hypocritical when it comes to self-defense given their support for gun control while relying on private security to protect themselves.
“It’s very hypocritical for Democrats that are currently running for mayor and carry guns or have bodyguards with guns to tell others they can’t,” Mateo remarked. “Why don’t they give up their armed security. Why don’t the bureaucrats that are so anti-gun fire their armed security or surrender their guns?”
Mateo continued, “The Democrats don’t do that because they fear for their lives, yet they tell others who fear that they cannot protect themselves, their families, or businesses.”
A win by Mateo would represent a major coup for right-wingers in the Empire State. New York is as anti-gun as it gets. It’s very unlikely that Republicans will ever regain control of the state government or even New York City.
Nevertheless, campaigns like the one Mateo is running can insert relevant issues like the Second Amendment into the public conversation and begin to shift the discussion in jurisdictions where the issue is largely viewed as taboo. More importantly, these campaigns illustrate the importance of people getting involved in city politics.
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