A young political name with an old political pedigree is making noise on gun policy, and the gun-rights community isn’t impressed.
Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, is campaigning to succeed retiring Rep. Jerrold Nadler in New York’s 12th Congressional District. Along the way, he’s decided to float a familiar gun-control talking point. Penalize states with “weak gun laws” because firearms from those states allegedly end up used in crimes in New York.
Speaking to the New York Post, Schlossberg argued that there is an “illegal flow of guns” from states with looser firearm laws and suggested those states should face penalties to help fund enforcement.
That idea didn’t sit well with the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb fired back that Schlossberg has the issue exactly backward.
“How about penalizing New York for all the criminals they release on cashless bail, who then commit crimes in other states?” Gottlieb asked.
According to Gottlieb, New York doesn’t suffer from a “gun problem” at all. It has a criminal justice problem. That is fueled by soft-on-crime policies that repeatedly turn violent offenders loose. He pointed to New York’s bail reform laws, which have been widely criticized for allowing repeat offenders to cycle in and out of custody.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump underscored that concern by signing an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify states and jurisdictions that eliminated cash bail for crimes posing clear public-safety threats, including violent offenses, burglary, looting, and vandalism.
Gottlieb accused Schlossberg of pandering to far-left Democrats rather than addressing the real drivers of crime.
“While prosecutors and courts go light on repeat offenders,” Gottlieb said. “Politicians in Albany and New York City go hard on law-abiding citizens for exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
He added that New Yorkers increasingly turn to firearms for self-defense precisely because the state has failed to control recidivist criminals. People who, in his view, should already be behind bars.
Gottlieb closed with a sharp historical jab, noting that Schlossberg’s grandfather was an NRA member.
“President Kennedy is probably shaking his head,” Gottlieb said. “Watching politicians blame lawful gun owners instead of fixing a criminal justice system that everyone knows is broken.”
As Schlossberg ramps up his campaign, CCRKBA’s message is clear. Blaming other states and lawful gun owners won’t fix New York’s crime problem. And voters are increasingly aware of that reality.
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