In an interview with TPM published Thursday, Bill Thompson, one of the three leading candidates in the New York City mayoral election, discussed how getting guns off the streets is a major priority for him.
“If you look at his fight against guns, that’s something that has particular meaning in New York City,” Thompson said of current Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “I know it’s been a national fight, but particular meaning in New York City given gun violence in communities of color, in black and Latino communities. We want to see gun use eliminated. It’s cost us too many of our children.”
Thompson first brought up the issue when noting elements of Bloomberg’s record that he felt deserved praise including Bloomberg’s gun control policies and advocacy.
Thompson also said curbing gun violence was a major factor behind his position on the city police department’s stop-and-frisk policy. He has said the policy, which was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge Monday, should be reformed, but not eliminated entirely.
“I have not said end stop-and-frisk. I have said it’s been misused and it needed to be used correctly,” said Thompson. “I still have always believed that peoples’ constitutional and civil rights can be protected while we also fight to maintain safety and get guns off the streets.”
