Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council are set to pull a billion dollars from the NYPD budget today in an effort to appease activists who’ve been demanding an end to policing as we know it in the city. The mayor swears that the cuts won’t lead to any increased crime in New York, though whether or not even he believes that will be the case is an open question.

Violent crime was already edging upwards in the first few months of the year, but in the past several weeks its exploded across the city, with the number of shootings last week more than double compared to the same time period in 2019.

Since Sunday night until early Monday morning, there have been at least five shooting incidents with five victims, including one fatal, according to preliminary police data. Two were in the Bronx, two were in Brooklyn and one was in Queens. Police say 17-year-old Brandon Hendricks was killed before midnight Monday on Davidson Avenue.

On Saturday, a man and a woman were shot dead in broad daylight by a gunman armed with an AR-15.

Police identified the suspect as Charles Hernandez, 47, and say he wore a blonde wig as he allegedly gunned down Chioteke Thompson, 23, and Stephanie Perkins, 39.

Joining me on today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. to talk about the NYPD budget cuts and what they’ll likely mean to public safety in the city is former NYPD officer Rob O’Donnell, who says that a return to the bad old days of the 1990s isn’t out of the question thanks in large part to the mayor’s lack of leadership and the decision to engage in acts of de-policing, like disbanding the city’s plainclothes division.

O’Donnell also believes it’s long past time for the Second Amendment to be restored in New York City, though at this point he acknowledges that we’re probably more likely to see the Statue of Liberty torn down by protesters than Mayor de Blasio change the city’s gun licensing laws. As the former officer notes, however, when crime is on the increase, and law-abiding citizens cannot legally acquire a firearm thanks to the city’s licensing regime, some of them will undoubtably choose to break the law in order to have a firearm to protect themselves and their family. These aren’t violent criminals, but they’re still facing years in prison if they’re caught and convicted of possessing a gun without a license.

It’s another example of how gun control laws actually create gun crimes, and O’Donnell says if the mayor and city council are truly serious about reforming the police department and the criminal justice system, they’d ditch the gun control laws that fail to protect the public and are routinely ignored by crooks.

Be sure to check out the entire show above, which includes a look at the rising crime rate in another city in New York experiencing a surge in violence that’s left local politicians pointing fingers at each other over the failure to get tough on crime. On tomorrow’s program, we’ll be speaking with Culpeper County, Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins about the new gun control laws taking effect across the state, so get ready for some pre-Independence Day fireworks. Thanks as always for watching, listening, and spreading the word!