NYC Mayoral Frontrunner Has Some Odd Ideas About Police Responsibilities

We already know that New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is an anti-2A socialist who’s demanded a ban all guns and called for the NYPD to be defunded, but I didn’t realize his hostility towards law enforcement extended to the point that he wants keep cops from responding to domestic violence incidents. 

As the Free Beacon reports, Mamdani made the comments five years ago while appearing on the Immigrantly podcast as part of a broader diatribe against law enforcement. 

“If somebody is jaywalking, if somebody is surviving, going through domestic violence—there are so many different, different situations that would be far better handled by people trained to deal with those specific situations, as opposed to an individual with a gun,” Mamdani said. 

The revelation comes as Mamdani runs on a mayoral platform that would replace police with “crisis responders” in “mental health” cases. Mamdani’s policy memo does not define such cases, and his campaign representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment on whether he would prevent the police from responding to reports of domestic violence. 

Is there any situation where Mamdani would approve of a police response? We know of at least one: enforcing “red flag” laws. Three years ago the New York Assemblyman voted in favor of S. 9113, which expanded the scope of the state’s Extreme Risk Protection Order statute to allow “red flag” petitions to be filed by healthcare workers and therapists. But while mental health workers might be able to file an ERPO petition, it’s up to police to execute the orders and seize any lawfully owned firearms. 

In the same podcast, Mamdani also proclaimed that “police do not create safety.”

For many, many people across this city and this state, police actually create and amplify violence. And it is very important to speak about that reality that many people have because it pushes up against the conventional understanding of police who are seen to be people who come to resolve violence.

With that attitude, you might think that Mamdani is at least opposed to the creation or enforcement of non-violent, possessory firearm offenses enforced by gun-wielding police officers. But once again, Mamdani seems willing to make an exception to his hostility towards police when it comes to enforcing gun control laws. As a member of the Assembly, he’s voted in favor of bills requiring a special license to possess a semi-automatic rifle, a mandate for concealed carry applicants to disclose their social media accounts, and even limiting judges’ discretion on ordering firearms to be seized or surrendered as part of a protective order.

In that 2020 podcast, Mamdani declared the NYPD “functions, in many ways, to punish poor Black and Brown people”, which makes me wonder why he’s apparently very much in favor of allowing the department to decide who gets to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. I can only conclude that Mamdani’s hostility towards the Second Amendment is even greater than his distaste for police… and that punishing poor minorities is justified so long as they’re trying to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms. 

Editor’s Note: Zohran Mamdani is an avowed Democratic Socialist and has a real chance to become the next mayor of New York City.

Help us continue to report on his radical views and expose the Democrats who support him. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.