Buffalo Mayor Calls for ‘Reasonable Gun Control’ After Supermarket Shooting

The mayor of Buffalo, New York, urged lawmakers on Sunday to take “reasonable” steps to combat gun violence and hate speech, after ten people were shot dead in his community in what the authorities consider it a racist attack.

“What this tragedy shows us is that it can happen anywhere. It’s not just about Buffalo,” Mayor Byron Brown, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said about Saturday’s supermarket shooting in a predominantly black community.

“No community appears to be safe from these mass shootings. It’s not just Buffalo, New York, it’s communities in every corner of this country that are unsafe with guns and with the hateful ideology that has been allowed to proliferate on social media and the Internet.” , Brown said in a separate interview with CBS News.

Authorities said the 18-year-old suspect arrested in Saturday’s violence, which left 13 people shot dead, researched local demographics, looking for places with high concentrations of black residents, before going several hours in Buffalo with an assault rifle and an assault rifle. tactical vest.

Rather than examining how Black people and people of color can feel safe in the wake of the violence, Brown urged his fellow lawmakers to tackle what he considers a “uniquely American phenomenon” with guns fire.

“We must focus on sound gun control. That said, after all of these mass shootings that have happened in this country for different reasons, year after year, month after month, week after week, let Buffalo, New York, be the last place where this kind of mass shooting happens,” he told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan.

Saturday’s shooting was the 198th this year. It is also the deadliest event this year, according to a tally by Gun Violence Archive, an independent nonprofit group.

The gun used in this weekend’s attack was purchased legally in New York, but it was modified with “illegal magazines” available in other states, such as neighboring Pennsylvania, the governor of New York said. New York Kathy Hochul.

Earlier this year, Hochul pledged to crack down on illegal guns crossing state lines into New York and said Sunday she planned to announce a new gun reform package this week.

“We had already planned to announce a comprehensive gun package to address other gaps that exist in our laws,” she said during a press briefing. “We are doing everything we can to ensure our laws are strict. They are ironclad in ensuring our law enforcement has the resources they need.

This article was originally published on HuffPost and has been updated.

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