The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition. 

 

Despite marking the month of June with the usual events aimed at curbing the gun violence that continues to plague The Bronx, the last day of Gun Violence Awareness Month was marred by the violent shooting of a 5-year-old girl in Olinville, followed by a spate of 16 shootings over the Fourth of July weekend. What followed was possibly even worse when four people, including two children under the age of 7, were gunned down in broad daylight by two masked scooter drivers beside St. James Park in Fordham Manor on July 11, shocking local residents.

 

While all four victims are reported to be in stable condition, two people have since been arrested, and elected officials have taken legislative actions in efforts to address the gun violence crisis, some residents and the families of gun violence victims have been calling for even stronger measures to be implemented, saying this is required in order to see any real change.

 

Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) commemorated National Gun Violence Awareness Month on June 20 by joining the family of the late Angellyh Yambo, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, and students from University Prep Charter High School to announce new federal legislation banning ghost guns, and expanding the perimeter of gun-free school zones.

 

As previously reported, 16-year-old Angellyh, who spent much of her youth in Kingsbridge, was killed when she was hit by a stray bullet shot by a 17-year-old male youth armed with a ghost gun in close proximity to her high school in the South Bronx on April 8, 2022.

As reported, ghost guns are untraceable firearms without a serial number that anyone, even minors, prohibited purchasers, domestic abusers, and gun traffickers, can buy online and assemble at home without a background check. Torres said that according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the use of ghost guns in U.S. crimes has soared by more than 1,000% since 2017.

 

“I’m proud to introduce the ‘Angellyh Yambo Gun Free Zone Expansion Act of 2023’ in honor and memory of a beloved daughter, friend, and honor roll student who should still be with us today,” the congressman said. “We are the only country in the industrialized world with an epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings, and the notion that this reality is the inevitable price we pay for our freedom is outrageous,” he added.

 

If passed, the Act would ban the transfer and possession of ghost guns and expand gun-free school zones from 1,000 ft. to 5,000 ft. for all public, private, and charter schools and early childhood education centers. The legislation would also go further than current federal regulations requiring manufacturers of ghost gun kits to become licensed under the Gun Control Act, to include serial numbers on the kits’ frames or receiver, and to run background checks on buyers, prior to a sale of a ghost gun kit.

As reported previously by Norwood News in February 2022, during a visit to New York City to discuss the issue of gun violence with local elected officials, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the enactment and finalization of a rule that would expand the definition of firearms to include ghost gun kits.

 

On Dec. 27, 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) took steps to close the ‘ghost gun’ loophole by issuing an open letter to assist the firearms industry and the public in understanding whether certain semiautomatic, striker-fired pistols (sometimes referred to as “Glock-type” pistols) had reached a stage of manufacture such that they would “readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted” to a functional frame. If so, they would therefore be classified as “frames” or “firearms” in accordance with the final rule titled definition of ‘frame or receiver,’ and identification of firearms (Final Rule 2021R-05F) in the law which became effective on Aug. 24, 2022.

 

In response, on Dec. 28, 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “The numbers don’t lie; the proliferation of ghost guns in New York City and in big cities across the nation is the fastest-growing, gun safety problem facing our country.” The mayor added, “This year alone, the NYPD has recovered more than 430 ghost guns, the highest number in city history, and a staggering 2,400-percent increase from the 17 recovered in 2018.”

 

He continued, “Our administration has taken aggressive action against ghost gun manufacturers, but the existing loophole that enables vendors to sell near-complete frames and receivers that are easily converted into operational and untraceable firearms is substantially undermining our efforts, taking lives, and helping criminals avoid prosecution.”

 

Adams said at the time that he applauded the Biden-Harris administration, and ATF specifically, for taking what he said was a commonsense step to regulating the sale of deadly weapons, and closing a longstanding loophole that he said had contributed to the increase in violent crime across the country.

 

“We know that nothing can bring back the victims of gun violence, but this action will help spare more families the heartbreak of losing a loved one to these deadly and untraceable weapons,” he said. As reported, both the mayor and Gov. Kathy Hochul had addressed the issue of ghost guns earlier that year in the wake of several horrific shootings across the State.

Adams also spoke with ATF director, Steven Dettelbach, about closing the ghost gun loophole and the City of New York filed a lawsuit against five companies that were unlawfully selling ghost gun kits to New Yorkers. Four of the companies agreed to stop, while the courts issued a preliminary injunction to stop the last company’s illegal behavior.

 

However, despite these measures, as Torres said during the June 20 press conference this year, “Retailers began selling the gun components separately rather than the gun kits in order to circumvent the rules.” He added, “Gun retailers are willing to break the law, and the ATF has been unwilling to enforce the law as vigorously as it should be.”

 

The congressman continued, “We do not have to live in a world where Americans and especially children routinely fall victim to mass murder in the very places where they’re supposed to be safe. It is far past time for the federal government to crack down on the proliferation of weapons of war on our streets, including untraceable ghost guns, and implement other gun safety measures to protect our communities and save lives.”

For her part, Mary Hernandez, Angellyh’s aunt and the CEO/founder of The Angellyh Yambo Launch Foundation, said, “Gun violence is a national crisis that demands a national solution.” She said the new Act, if passed, would help kids in the community feel a little safer walking to and from school. The foundation’s aim is to create safe havens for children and the family have been engaged with Torres’s office to create common-sense policy solutions.

 

According to the CDC, guns are the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers. So far in 2023, the Gun Violence Archive reports that there have been more mass shootings than days in the year, putting the U.S. on track to set a new record for mass killings.

 

Meanwhile, Gibson said with the proliferation of gun violence reaching epidemic proportions across the City, State, and nation, the need for cross-governmental collaboration was greater than ever before. She added in part, “This is why I fully support [this act]. I want to thank Congressman Torres for honoring the life of Angellyh Yambo and her loved ones by introducing legislation that works to ensure the safety of our students around educational institutions nationwide.”

The draft bill was also welcomed by Clark. Referring to the fact that Angellyh had been killed by a ghost gun, she said, “Naming the proposed legislation for Angellyah is poignantly appropriate, as her family has channeled their grief into advocacy against gun violence.”

 

In relation to gun manufacturer, Polymer 80, which had been sued in the State of California for allegedly not performing background checks on the purchasers of gun components it made, Norwood News asked Torres if the new Act would also require the performance of background checks on the purchasers of such component parts. “As I understand it, the bullet that took the life of Angellyh was manufactured by Polymer 80, which is the worst offender not only for The Bronx, but throughout the country, and so that’s precisely the manufacturer that this legislation is designed for,” he said.

 

We later spoke to Angellyh’s parents and aunt after the press conference to ask how they felt. Yanely Henriquez, Angellyh’s mother, said, “I was holding all these emotions for so long. I’m so overwhelmed, so excited, and I hope that this brings the change that we need.”

Nonetheless, she added, “A lot of young kids are dying in vain, our doctors and lawyers of the future. We have to do something about this. I don’t even know what it is that we have to do, because it’s like these guns are taking control of us and that is sad. We have to target on something that, you know, hits them hard…offenses, charges. Like you can’t get a gun like buying a pair of sneakers.”

 

Meanwhile, Angellyh’s father said, “This is overwhelming. [We’re] happy with everything that’s going on and hopefully, you know, this thing could get passed and start saving lives if we can. It’s hard to say; I’m hoping. That’s what I can say; I’m hoping.”

 

Asked how he was doing generally, he said, “I have my ups and downs. You know, it’s tough for me every day to do these things, because it gets very emotional for me to speak about Angellyh. For me, I don’t like being on camera. It just doesn’t bring her back you know, but I have to push forward because I got two other boys that I have to look after, even though my big one is already 20 you can say, and I got the little one, and they’re the ones that keep me going.”

 

At a state level, elected officials like Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81), who represents the general Northwest Bronx region, say they are continuing to fund programs such as those run by Mosholu Montefiore Community Center in Norwood which recently received $250,000 under the latest budget, which will go towards programs aimed at preventing gun violence among local youth.

 

A spate of 16 reported shootings over the Fourth of July holiday weekend prompted elected officials, including Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (S.D. 36), and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, along with various cure violence groups and members of local precinct community councils, to hold a press conference at Lou Gehrig Plaza on July 6 to call for an end to the violence.

 

Gibson said of the event, “Today, I joined with Bronx DA Darcel Clark, Assistant Chief Philip Rivera, local elected officials and cure violence organizations to condemn the gun violence we witnessed over the holiday weekend. Thank you to our Bronx DA, NYPD, and our cure violence organizations who are on the ground doing the work and preventing violence everyday.”

 

She added, “Lastly, thank you to Mayor Eric Adams for allocating nearly $200 million for programming to reduce gun violence in communities & connect New Yorkers with city-funded services, including school conflict mediation, violence interruption, non-traditional therapeutic services, & more.”

 

Rev. Oswald Denis later wrote, “They are not going to put the guns down. We need our elected officials to make stricter laws!”

As of July 9, year-to-date shootings in The Bronx were actually down by 27.3 percent (173 v 238) compared to the same time last year and year-to-date shooting victims in the borough as of the same date were also down by 24.5 percent (210 v 278)).

 

In the 52nd Precinct, which covers Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Bronx Park, and University Heights, year-to-date shootings were also down by 55.6 percent (8 v 18) compared to the same time last year, while year-to-date shooting victims were also down by 61.9 percent (8 v 21).

 

Despite this encouraging trend, victims of gun violence continue to live with the daily agony of lost loved ones. At the June 20 press conference, we also asked Henriquez how she was doing generally, “I’m okay,” she said bravely. “I could be better, but she [Angellyh] holds me up and my family too, but she’s the one that always says, ‘You know, Mama, you got this’.”

Anyone with information regarding any of the referenced shooting incidents is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.