Felony Assaults Up Massively in NYC's 'Gun-Free' Transit System

AP Photo/John Minchillo

How it started:

The Bruen decision rocked New York's anti-gun establishment. They were already working on just how to adjust their gun control efforts when the verdict came down. They simply read the decision and tried to skooch up to the line as close as they could, sometimes making it impossible to see the line drawn by Justice Clarence Thomas.

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We were told that this was necessary to protect New Yorkers, that without this then the New York City subway would be filled with violence, and that the Big Apple needed this protection.

So, they passed it, and lawful concealed carry, while not quite impossible, is seriously difficult to do in accordance with state law.

How it's currently going:

Crime on the subways has become significantly more violent since the pandemic with the number of felony assaults soaring when compared to pre-pandemic levels, an analysis by The Post revealed.

The number of attacks on trains that left victims injured jumped 53% from 2023’s 570 felony assaults to the 373 reported in 2019, according to stats.

Those 200 extra felony assaults meant that attacks resulting in substantial injury accounted for 25% of 2,285 major crimes reported on trains and in stations in 2023, compared to just 15% of the 2,499 major crimes in 2019, the data show. 

...

There have already been three murders in the first three months of 2024, the data show.

Without the surge in assaults, overall crime in the transit system would be roughly in line with the rates seen underground before the pandemic when adjusting for ridership.

The surge in violence has left cops and criminal justice experts flummoxed, with no clear explanation of what is driving the disturbing trend.

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Now, I'd love to chalk all of this up to the concealed carry restrictions passed in New York, but the data just isn't there. Not yet, anyway.

What we can do, however, is note that at a time when violent crime is down all around the nation, the state of New York is seeing a massive problem with felony assaults on the NYC subway system, one of the very places they claimed gun control was needed.

We already knew that it was bad; bad enough they put armed National Guard troops on subway platforms conducting bag checks and other law enforcement functions.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has tread all over the rights of ordinary, law-abiding New Yorkers, and for what? Three murders on the subway. A 53 percent spike in felony assaults on those same subway lines. And potentially legions of law-abiding citizens who might want to protect themselves but can't because of the laws she pushed for in response to Bruen.

I might not be able to definitively link the rise in violence to New York's "carry killer" bill, but I can damn sure point out that the law that was supposed to keep people safer doesn't seem to be doing it worth a flip.

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What's more, we knew something like this would happen. We know that gun control doesn't improve safety for average Americans, just the criminals, and what we're seeing here is a group of bad guys who have never heard of Bernie Getz.

They don't know to be afraid and thanks to Hochul and the laws she pushed for, they don't have to. As a result, they're running rampant on the subways Hochel claimed to want to protect.

Whoops.

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