Mike Lawler Special to the USA TODAY Network
Regarding "Lawler and Trump reward the gun lobby. NY will pay the price," lohud.com, Aug. 15:
Beth Davidson’s recent column reads like it was ripped straight from the far-left gun control lobby’s playbook, and is filled with the usual scare tactics, deliberate distortions and flat-out lies we see too often in politics. Respectfully, Davidson either doesn’t know what she is talking about or is willfully misleading the people of the Hudson Valley. Either way, I won’t let those lies go unanswered.
Let’s start with her central attack: the legislation I supported to remove the $200 tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns. Davidson calls these “silencers” and claims they make it impossible to hear gunfire. Wrong on both counts. They are suppressors, and just like a car muffler, they reduce sound but do not eliminate it. They protect hearing, make hunting and sport shooting safer and less disruptive and are rarely used in crimes. That’s why many European countries encourage their use, and why even municipalities in New York hire sharpshooters with suppressors to manage deer overpopulation.
And here’s what Davidson left out: suppressors remain tightly regulated under the National Firearms Act. Purchasing one still requires two separate FBI background checks, ATF registration, fingerprinting, photographs and notification to local law enforcement. No law-abiding New Yorker is suddenly walking out of a gun shop with a “silencer” like in a Hollywood movie. The only thing this change did was stop penalizing responsible citizens with a $200 tax. Suggesting otherwise is either ignorance or dishonesty.
Why can't Democrats talk about crime?
But let’s talk about what Davidson and her Democratic allies refuse to talk about: crime.
New York’s problem isn’t a lack of gun control laws. We already have some of the strictest in the nation. The problem is that Democrats refuse to enforce the laws on the books. In 2022, even Mayor Eric Adams admitted that more than 80% of people arrested with a gun in New York City were back on the streets. Many had multiple prior gun arrests. Repeat offenders, often with lengthy rap sheets, cycle through the system and are released under disastrous policies like cashless bail, Raise the Age, and Clean Slate. Just weeks ago, a criminal ignored Times Square’s “gun-free zone” and opened fire, injuring three people.
Democrats like Davidson claim they want to “prevent crime,” but if you are soft on criminals who actually commit crimes with guns, you can’t credibly argue you’re preventing anything. Real prevention means taking dangerous people off the streets, not targeting law-abiding citizens.
Contrast that with my record.
In Albany, I supported harsh measures to crack down on ghost guns, disguised guns that look like toys, and unlawful gun purchases by fugitives. I backed laws expanding Extreme Risk Protection Orders, requiring background checks for semiautomatic rifles, and cracking down on body armor sales. And helped shepherd Alyssa's Law to ensure the use of panic alarms in our public schools. In Congress, I led the bipartisan renewal of the Undetectable Firearms Act, working with Senator Schumer to keep guns undetectable by metal detectors illegal. I introduced a tax credit to promote safe storage and cosponsored background check legislation while making clear that 90% of criminals obtain their firearms illegally—by theft, on the street, or from friends and family—not through gun shows or private sales.
That’s a record of common sense and bipartisanship — the opposite of the cartoon villain Davidson paints.
Meanwhile, Democrats like her push unconstitutional bans that even the Supreme Court has made clear cannot stand after D.C. v. Heller. If an assault weapons ban were constitutional and effective, why didn’t Democrats pass it when they controlled the House, Senate and White House in 2009–2010 and again in 2021–2022? They know it won’t withstand scrutiny, and they know it won’t stop crime. But it makes for a good talking point.
New Yorkers don’t need talking points. They need action.
They need leaders willing to confront the fact that violent criminals — not hunters, not collectors, not veterans, not single women working night shifts concerned for their safety, not moms and dads teaching their kids to safely shoot at the range — are the source of gun violence. They need leaders willing to admit that policies like cashless bail have failed, and that coddling repeat offenders is a recipe for tragedy. They need leaders who understand that protecting constitutional rights and protecting public safety are not mutually exclusive, and who are willing to do the hard work of both.
Davidson wants to run for Congress on a platform of blaming the tool and ignoring the criminal. I’ll run on a record of bipartisan action, common-sense solutions, and standing up to the failed soft-on-crime policies that have made New York less safe. That’s the difference between leadership and empty rhetoric.
Davidson may think repeating lies makes them true. It doesn’t. If she were serious about gun safety, she’d realize a warning label won’t do anything to stop crime, but tougher penalties on criminals will.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican, represents New York's 17th congressional district.
