There was, quite unfortunately, plenty of violence on January 1 of this new year. In addition to the terrorist attack in New Orleans, the exploding Tesla outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, there was also a shooting at a night club in Queens. At least 10 people have been injured in what could be a gang related incident.
Adding insult to injury over the violence is how New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) felt the need to respond in a post over X from her official account. "This shooting in Queens last night is horrific," her post began, which is fair enough. "We need commonsense gun regulations in this nation to help end senseless gun violence," her post then continued, inserting politics into the matter. She didn't mention until the end of her post that "I hope the 10 wounded individuals recover quickly," and added that "I urge anyone with information to immediately contact," as she also tagged the NYPD.
James' most recent post, from late in the morning from Thursday, is to rant and rave about gun control. It is, as of Friday afternoon, her only post from either X account, about the shooting.
This shooting in Queens last night is horrific.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 2, 2025
We need commonsense gun regulations in this nation to help end senseless gun violence.
I hope the 10 wounded individuals recover quickly, and I urge anyone with information to immediately contact @NYPDnews.https://t.co/I48pQyMrMo
James' official account also referenced the New Orleans terrorist attack. "My heart is with the families of those who were taken from us, injured, and everyone impacted by this horrible attack in New Orleans," she shared, though she wouldn't refer to it as terrorism. Her political account, which has not addressed the shooting in Queens, referenced the Las Vegas explosion. "I’m thinking of the Las Vegas community after this explosion, and I’m grateful to our law enforcement responding to these terrible situations across the nation today," she posted.
The NYPD is probing a gang connection for the nightclub shooting. Gang members aren't exactly known for following the law on gun control, which is what makes such a post from the attorney general particularly ridiculous.
Recommended
That's hardly the only reason, though. In the just over 24 hours since the post has been up, there's been close to 5,000 replies, with Doug P. at our sister site of Twitchy highlighting some of the best replies.
There's also quite the Community Notes context attached to James' post, highlighting how gun control laws, which New York has some of the strictest of, don't exactly work. "New York State does, in fact, have some of the most stringent gun laws in the nation. New York has achieved an "A" from Giffords for the strength of it's gun laws, 3rd strongest of the 50 states," such context mentioned. "But criminals willing to commit murder don't care about gun laws."
The source used for that note? The Giffords Law Center, which isn't exactly a pro-gun rights group. California and New Jersey scored better, coming in at first and second place, respectively. According to the current version of the Giffords Law Center, Connecticut is actually third, while New York is fourth. All those states have "A" ratings, as does Massachusetts, which comes in at fifth.
The Giffords Law Center specifically praised New York for how the state "Strengthened existing gun industry accountability law" and "Invested $105 million in community violence intervention programs." Clearly that money wasn't exactly well spent when it comes to what could have been gang violence at the start of the year. In many areas, crime has gotten worse in New York City, in all kinds of neighborhoods, and gang activity has been a source of the problem, as it was last year and looks to be potentially in the new year as well.
What's not mentioned in that short summary about the Empire State is how strict the state is on law abiding gun owners. In January 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a law passed by Democrats in response to the Court in 2022 striking down a law that required state residents seeking a concealed carry permit to show "proper cause" for doing so. This newer law outlawed concealed carry in "sensitive locations." 2022 was a year when gun control laws in the state kept getting struck down.
The quoted replies to James' post also added some key points about gun control in New York versus the rest of the country.
Your garbage supporters’ inability to behave as civilized people does not obligate me to disarm https://t.co/cbPAe8upDn
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) January 3, 2025
She can't get crime under control in her own city so naturally the entire country is to blame. https://t.co/ZXmTVXHzuE
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 3, 2025
New York State has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and New York City perhaps the strictest… It’s almost as though criminals don’t follow laws. https://t.co/ip7P7MDgFQ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 3, 2025
As despicable as such a post is, it's actually rather on point for the particularly politicized attorney general. Beyond New York's particularly strict gun control laws, James has made it her mission to weaponize her office and go after now President-elect Donald Trump and his family over his businesses with a civil suit that she refused to drop even when Trump was elected once more. This comes despite how the criminal charges were dropped against Trump, with such charges serving as even more evidence of a weaponized system.
Upon Trump being elected once more last November, a sullen and pouty James took to the podium for mere minutes in which she vowed to continue going after the president-elect. Meanwhile, the people of her state continue to suffer.
