If anyone can sell a gun safely, it’s the NYPD
Washington: In “Guns, the NYPD, and NYC’s next mayor” (op-ed, April 24), the authors miss the mark on who drives criminal firearm violence: criminals. The New York City Police Department does not sell used service firearms to the general public or to lawful and highly-regulated firearm retailers who can only sell firearms — new, used or other — to anyone without first running an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification to ensure the purchaser is allowed to own a firearm.
Criminals do not follow the laws, nor do they submit to a background check to obtain firearms. According to publicly available FBI crime data, the overwhelming majority of criminals who use firearms in the commission of a crime gain access to them through illicit means, including theft and the black market.
Playing politics with the purchasing of law enforcement firearms to advance an anti-gun agenda puts officers’ lives at risk. It is detrimental to New York City taxpayers and a possible anti-trust violation. The NYPD should be free to select the firearm that best meets their officers’ needs. The firearms industry has long worked with local police departments on programs with proven track records of reducing firearm retail store thefts, educating retailers and the public about illegal straw purchases of firearms and keeping guns inaccessible to children.
Don’t play gun control politics with the lives of New York’s Finest. Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president for government and public affairs, National Shooting Sports Foundation
Homegrown pope
Charlotte, N.C.: Right-wing media figures and MAGA provocateurs are crying out in rage over the election of Chicago native Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV. President Trump loyalists are calling him the “woke Marxist pope,” yet they’re confused by the fact that he speaks five languages. How could that possibly be when they all know real Americans speak only one language? Ron Turek
Outshone
Brooklyn: So, a fellow American has been elevated to a position higher than Trump’s. I wonder how he’ll react. Martin Selbst
Craving credit
Portsmouth, N.H.: I can hear it now: “It was because of me, an American pope has been elected.” Elizabeth Smith
No hope for this pope
Richmond Hill: Just a terrible and dangerous choice the cardinals have made to elect this new pope. After Jorge Mario Bergoglio, traditional Catholics were praying that the next pope would be a Catholic and not a heretic as he was. We fear the Church will be sinking deeper into apostasy. We beseech thee, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to guide the Church toward salvation in your holy name. I don’t have much hope that the Council of Trent reforms will be implemented as they should be, once again including the Tridentine Mass. Also, I pray that some of the changes made by Vatican II will be reversed. Will Leo XIV be Francis Part II? Maria Suzanne Napoleone
Nice surprise
Chicago: Can you believe it? An American pope, no less, and a Chicago-born one besides. Better yet, he’s promised to lead by example and not executive orders. Bob Ory
Domestic threat
Whitestone: Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stated: “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.” Is lynching so different from deporting law-abiding people legally living in the United States with green cards and visas to horrific prisons in El Salvador and Venezuela? Can U.S. citizens with full constitutional rights feel safe if they criticize and push back against the denial of civil rights by the Trump administration? I don’t believe it is unfair to say that the authoritarian, neo-nationalist, racist Trump movement supports a new form of lynching. If so, contrary to MLK’s belief in the protection of law, the law may not protect legal residents and even American citizens from being “lynched.” Michael J. Gorman
High fashion
Manhattan: The theme of the 2025 Met Gala was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” exploring the history of Black style, particularly focusing on the Black dandy and the role of clothing in shaping Black identities. This year, there were many fabulous contributions to the style. Rihanna’s fabulous Marc Jacobs design adequately displayed her baby bump, along with a stylish and spectacular frock! Cynthia Erivo was dazzling in a shimmering jacket and ball skirt by Givenchy. Bad Bunny was true to form in blending dandyism with his Puerto Rican heritage in a Prada suit and pava hat. But with all the fabulous outfits dazzling the blue carpet, only one superstar brought that room to a hush! Legendary 81-year-old Diana Ross rolled in with an 18-foot train, carried up the stairs by eight men. Ross reminds the world: I am here, I am relevant and I am still beautiful! Michael DeSouza
Looking good
Malverne, L.I.: The Knicks have beaten the Celtics on their home court, and now it’s time for middle-aged folks like me to start believing in a championship. We can start counting: 10 more wins, two against the chump-change Celtics. The #1 Eastern Conference Cavaliers are also down 0-2. From the Western Conference, the Nuggets and Warriors are shells of their past finals victories. This could be the magical run for the Knicks. Kosmas Patikoglou
True believers
Bronx: I think the Knicks’ series versus Detroit toughened them up. Since Boston swept New York during the regular season, it was assumed the Celtics would beat them with no problem, but it was also assumed the Pistons would cave, and they didn’t. They fought. Also, remember that Jalen Brunson won two college championships with Villanova University. He knows what it’s like to win. When he says, “We keep fighting,” that rubs off on the rest of the players. I think Boston saw how the Knicks kept fighting, believing they could win, and got nervous not seeing their opponent wilt and quit during the fourth quarter. I’ve been a Knicks fan since 1969, with terrific and tragic memories. This series isn’t over. It will be a dogfight and will probably stand out like the days of the 1970s. We Knicks fans anticipate a glorious run. Eric Cummings Jr.
Pride and joy
Bronx: The Knicks are unbelievable! So many media pundits had given them up for dead. They said if the Knicks won one game of this series, they would be lucky. This team reminded me of Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, et al. Thank you, Brunson and the rest, for bringing me laughter and joy in this hour of darkness in America. Pauline Graham Binder
Broken homes
Huntington, L.I.: In his response to my letter, Voicer Gerard Kay stated: “Systemic racism in America is a fact, and it’s not against white people.” The facts do not support this claim. I grew up in the Black neighborhood of Springfield Gardens, Queens, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Black families I knew consisted of married couples with children. Those kids were the same as me. Their fathers were mostly blue-collar workers while the mothers were homemakers. Their parents expected them to work hard and do well in school. They expected their children to do better in life than they had done. There was a great deal of promise for the future. It was sad to see that promise dashed by the expansion of the welfare state in the 1960s. So much was lost. Tom Saracco
National nightmare
Dover, Del.: The people of Palestine have been displaced since 1948, when Zionists in England decided that after suffering during World War II, a group of people would go to Palestine and replace the inhabitants. No one consulted them and millions were told to leave the land they were working for decades. After ethnically cleansing the territory, it was labeled Israel. An outdoor prison was created by the new colonizers, and they called it Gaza and the West Bank. No right of self-defense, since the invaders had the latest weapons and tanks to keep supremacy over anyone who wasn’t a Zionist. Israel can’t claim the right to protect itself when all it does is continue invading its neighbors and killing innocent women and children. Zionism is not Judaism! Chalky White