Get Guns Off The Streets – Teen Charged With Murder On Bus
by 
In a horrific turn of events on Thursday night, a 14 year old boy aboard Brooklyn’s B15 bus shot and killed an innocent 39 year old man. As I’m reading and trying to dissect all the details of this story, I can’t help but go back to the fact a 14 year old boy is walking around with a gun and an innocent man cannot go back home to his family. I’m sure you heard on the news or read all the newspapers that have covered this story but no one is talking about how this teenager received a gun.
If you haven’t heard about this story, here is a quick overview. A teenager by the name of Kahton Anderson was riding the B15 bus in Bedstuy, when a boy he had been feuding with gets on the bus at a routine stop. Anderson pulls out his gun and starts shooting as runs off. Instead of hitting his intended target he hits and innocent man. A man that works two jobs to take care of his family. A man that is now gone to leave a family struggling.
While this story is sad on so many different levels, the main factor here is the gun. No one seems to be talking about how this boy got his hands on one. That is what we need to be discussing. While charging this teenager with a felony is well deserved, how can we help these other young boys on the street handling weapons that can potentially harm other people?
One of the programs I support is getting cash for these guns. Wouldn’t you rather have money in your pocket for your future than walking around with a weapon that can put you in jail for a long time. New York gun laws, to this day are one of the strictest laws in the US.
On an ongoing basis, New York City runs the Cash for Guns program, offering $100 to anyone who surrenders a gun. According to the NYPD, “This program is part of an ongoing effort to encourage New Yorkers who own guns to turn them in anonymously, no-questions-asked.” “To turn in a gun for $100,” the NYPD instructs, “take it to your local police precinct. You do not have to identify yourself and you will not be asked any questions.” The NYPD requests that when bringing a gun to a police precinct, they “must be put in a plastic or paper bag or in a shoe box.”
There are also many marches and programs that we all can participate in within the Brooklyn area to get all illegal guns off the streets and out of the wrong hands. Now i don’t expect this to happen over night, but if we all come together we will make a significant change and lower these crazy homicide numbers!
Some of the programs are:
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- New Yorkers Against Gun Violence
- Silent March shoes campaign
- Brooklyn chapter, One Million Moms for Gun Control
- Mayors Against Illegal Guns
- Keep Guns Off Campus
- Legal Community Against Guns
- NRA
(source: About.com)
Lets work together. We cannot lose our teenagers to a life of crime and we want to keep ourselves as well as our families safe!
I plan to attend an open forum at NYU next week, where Mayor Bill Diblasio will speak and be available for questions from the audience. In light of this horrific tragedy on Apr. 4 where an innocent was killed as the unintended target of the 14 yr. old teen who had aimed at members of a rival gang, on a public bus (!), what would be an appropriate question to ask Mr. Diblasio?
I support the Brady Campaign and MAIG but what should we expect of Diblasio concretely if, in fact, he, also, wants to prevent another such tragedy where a gun is bared in neutral space of a commuter bus?
I feel that MAIG, which Bloomberg (former mayor) had supported, is a worthy group, and I want to mention their work, but maybe Diblasio will spurn any regulatory/policy/program effort that is linked to his former rival. In any case, I want to know what are the police doing already to prevent gun violence and have they implemented anything additionally since April 4? As a citizen of NYC, I feel a right to know. Would your organization provide me any guidance for this?