Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling for at least $1.5 billion in additional federal funding for New York's interstate task force to remove illegal guns from the streets, the New York Post reports.
Schumer said on Sunday during a press conference that the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns, which is led by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, can only function with assistance from the federal government and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which he said have the resources needed to "choke off crime," according to the Post.
"The ABCs of beating back the scourge of gun violence depends on three federal letters: A, T, and F," Schumer told reporters in Manhattan.
"I am pushing for $1.5 billion dollars in federal funds for the agency, so they can help with this work and do much more at the national level,” he added. "Without the $1.5 billion … these plans will not have their full impact, and we need full impact to address the flow of these crime guns in our communities and across our state."
The senator tweeted later that day: "NY's new task force on illegal guns will be critical for data-sharing, crime gun tracing, intel gathering and these plans to beat back illegal guns & traffickers must be fueled by federal funding — specifically at the ATF That's why I'm working for $1.5B in federal funds for ATF."
State officials said earlier this month that the committee, which was created by the governor's office in partnership with the New York Police Department and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, will organize law enforcement officials in the state so they can "share intelligence and strategies," for stopping illegal gun-trafficking.
It will also seek to cooperate with neighboring states and others, including Rhode Island, Ohio, and New Hampshire, to determine the origins of illegal guns.
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