The article in the 8/6/2026 edition of the Wallkill Valley Times says that the man arrested for the tragic murder of Jacob Freytes is charged with criminal possession of a weapon and murder. I believe the criminal possession of a weapon charge means the gun used in the murder was not purchased legally according to New York State law by the man who has been arrested for the crime. I am sure that the man arrested for the murder of Jacob Freytes could not get a New York State pistol permit.

Former New York City Mayor Bloomberg looked into gun crimes in NYC and he discovered that over 90% of those crimes were committed with guns that were legally purchased in states that had very weak gun control laws and then brought into New York illegally. Mr. Bloomberg’s commitment to doing something about gun violence led him to found the organization, Everytown for Gun Safety, with a $50 million-dollar donation in 2014.

Everytown for Gun Safety essentially tries to get New York State gun control laws to be made federal so that bringing large quantities of guns into New York State from states with lax gun control laws is no longer a problem. I believe Mr. Bloomberg’s desire to have sensible gun control laws throughout America is a major reason that he switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in 2018. The states with lax gun laws in which anybody can buy any type of gun are controlled by Republicans. Republicans have a terrible record when it comes to sensible gun laws. The Republican Party let the nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons to the general public expire and the Republican Majority Supreme Court cancelled the nationwide ban on bump-stocks for assault weapons that was put in place after the Las Vegas massacre.

Crazy violent people who are armed with a gun are not deterred in the heat of the moment by extreme consequences if they are convicted of a crime, so the best way to deal with gun violence is to make it very difficult for crazy violent people to buy guns.