Det. Kenneth Ayala
The Issue: The shooting of NYPD Det. Kenneth Ayala and three other cops in Brooklyn on Sunday.
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The heroic officers of the NYPD who formed a “blue line” of defense against the maniacal ex-con in a Brooklyn gun battle seem reminiscent of the “OK Corral,” but with the addition of the heavy artillery (“Heroes of the NYPD,” Editorial, April 10).
The analogy is not far-fetched when you consider that violent miscreants can easily gain possession of military-style weapons to use against citizens and law-enforcement officers in an urban setting.
New York City has the most stringent gun laws in the country, yet eight police officers were shot in the past few months.
Handguns and military firearms exist for one reason: killing human beings. Their place is with soldiers and police officers alone.
Though the problem is multifaceted, I encourage The Post to reinstate its 2005 campaign to pressure Albany to tackle this issue and provide the manpower necessary to keep these weapons off our streets.
This is one fight we cannot afford to loose.
Joanne Norris
Brooklyn
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Mayor Bloomberg needs to wake up and stop saying that illegal guns are the problem. Criminals will always obtain them.
Even if they have to buy their guns in a foreign country, they will get them.
Lock up the criminals with the long rap sheets and dangerous histories — that is how you stop crime and shootings.
Robert Rosenberg
The Bronx
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Again, our NYPD officers have been shot.
Besides the guns being illegally owned, there is another common denominator which our politicians are overlooking: It seems that every single shooter has been a convicted felon let out on the streets to commit another crime.
Rather than hamper our constitutional right to own a gun, why don’t we take care of the people committing the crimes?
If they were in prison, they would not be in possession of an illegal gun, would they?
Bob Glyn
Manhattan
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Who is really to blame for this recent police shooting involving the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit and Nakwon Foxworth?
Maybe it was the guys moving furniture in the building, or maybe Foxworth was just proving that he doesn’t belong with the rest of us in society.
Foxworth doesn’t get it and never will. But thank God for the ESU.
Joseph Cavaliere
Valley Stream
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Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has an agenda, and I understand that.
However, penetration of standard police body armor is easily done by any regular hunting ammunition.
The fairly low-powered 30-30 with a soft-point bullet will do it easily. It will also penetrate the shields. And a hunting bow with broad-heads or even most field points will punch through a vest rather easily.
The cop-killer is the man who committed the crime; it’s not the object in his hands.
Jim Martin
Schenectady
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Eight police officers have been shot in the last four months. The shootings should be considered hate crimes, with the hatred directed toward the color blue.
Will state Sens. Hakeem Jeffries and Eric Adams wear eight-point NYPD hats in a display of support for these heroes? Don’t hold your breath.
A. Magnetto
Troy
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It amazes me that Bloomberg and The Post have the ability to attack the police pension system on one hand, while at the same time lionize the heroic efforts of men like the ESU detectives who subdued the gunman in Brooklyn last weekend.
Do you think that future police who retire under the Tier VI pension system will put their lives and careers in danger as willingly as the four brave officers who were shot Saturday?
The new pension plan eliminates a line-of-duty disability retirement and, consequently, will give new police officers pause when they confront dangerous criminals like Foxworth.
Joe Duggan Jr.
Manhattan