New York Q&A: Would you change the gun laws?

Based on recent violence around the nation and the city, would you vote to change gun laws?
New York Q&A: Would you change the gun laws?
Awilda Rodriguez Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times
Updated:

 

 

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Awilda+R_+Local+QA+KRISTEN+M_MG_5814.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-269527" title="Awilda Rodriguez (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Awilda+R_+Local+QA+KRISTEN+M_MG_5814-676x450.jpg" alt="Awilda Rodriguez (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" width="590" height="393"/></a>
Awilda Rodriguez (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

Awilda Rodriguez, 44, social worker, New York
Absolutely. Anytime there is a massacre you think about that. Where are these people getting these guns and how easy it is. I would like to change out of state laws. It shouldn’t be so easy as driving a car to a state where you can freely buy a gun and bring it in.

 

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Hanrahan_Local+QA+KRISTEN+M__MG_5819.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-269530" title="Gerard Hanrahan (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Hanrahan_Local+QA+KRISTEN+M__MG_5819-676x450.jpg" alt="Gerard Hanrahan (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" width="590" height="393"/></a>
Gerard Hanrahan (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

Gerard Hanrahan, 71, retired
No. We have the basic rights, certain amendments, and constitutional rights. I wouldn’t vote for changing the laws.

 

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Eddie+A_Local+QA+KRISTEN+M__MG_5824.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-269535" title="Eddie Alicea (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Eddie+A_Local+QA+KRISTEN+M__MG_5824-676x450.jpg" alt="Eddie Alicea (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" width="590" height="393"/></a>
Eddie Alicea (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

Eddie Alicea, 58, retired, San Francisco
Yes. What I'd like to have changed is the policy of the police discharging their weapons and killing civilians. ...To have a weapon in Europe you have to go through a rigorous process to acquire a firearm whereas here, all you need is money. The manufacturers in the South and the U.S. in general, are a strong lobby and that is the real crux of the problem ... just like the tobacco industry.

 

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Ben+Roberts_Local+QA+KRISTEN+M_MG_5827.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-269539" title="Ben Roberts (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Ben+Roberts_Local+QA+KRISTEN+M_MG_5827-676x450.jpg" alt="Ben Roberts (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" width="590" height="393"/></a>
Ben Roberts (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

Ben Roberts, late 20s, actor/musician, Brooklyn
I definitely would. You don’t need to give a standard human being a machine gun that can shoot off 60 rounds per minute. I think that’s crazy. If you look at the statistics on our guns and on our deaths, our death rate is absurd. So obviously something needs to be done. You want a rifle to shoot a deer or something, that’s fine, but not a crazy machine gun that you would use in Afghanistan for fighting a war. That stays in wartime.

 

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Heatherlynn_+Local+QA+KRISTEN+M__MG_5831.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-269544" title="Heatherlynn (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/20120722_Heatherlynn_+Local+QA+KRISTEN+M__MG_5831-676x450.jpg" alt="Heatherlynn (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)" width="590" height="393"/></a>
Heatherlynn (Kristen Meriwether/The Epoch Times)

Heatherlynn, 30, yoga instructor, New York
Yeah, I would actually. I would definitely like heavy arsenal weapons to not be available to regular citizens. It seems kind of crazy to me that you have to go out there with an AK-47 to do target practice. I also think that there need to be tougher mandates on clearance for regular handguns. I am from the West Coast and people are pretty into their guns out there, and so I get this country is founded on wanting to have arms, but really, what do we need them for anymore, especially out here in the city. It’s crazy to meet anyone who would own a gun out here in New York. I mean it’s insane

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.