Bronx Community College President's Lecture Explores Urban Gun Violence

New York City Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs and Counsel to the Mayor Carole Robles-Romàn, join experts from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and others in a discussion of urban violence in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School

Monday, April 8, 2013—Bronx Community College (BCC) of the City University of New York hosted the first in its series of President's Lectures on Thursday, April 11, 2013. The topic was "Guns: How Do We Stop the Violence?" The lecture took place from noon to 2 p.m. in Gould Memorial Library Auditorium on the BCC campus, located at 2155 University Avenue, Bronx, New York. It was free and open to the public.

The BCC President's Lectures is a new series of public forums on issues of major importance to the college community and the general public. The first lecture sought to expand on the discussion that galvanized the nation in the wake of the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT., and explored the complex issues involving urban violence.

Panelists were Gloria Cruz, founder of the Bronx Chapter of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Shafiq Abdussabur, Chairman/CEO of the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, Inc., Adam Levy, Putnam County DA and Phillip Thompson, campaign manager for impacted and faith-based communities for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The discussion moderator was New York City Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs and Counsel to the Mayor, Carol Robles-Romàn.

Topics covered in the discussion included the impact of New York state's tougher gun control laws on urban violence, the role of stop-and-frisk in the recent decline in gun homicides in the Bronx and other areas of the New York City metropolitan area and what local residents can do to stem the illegal trafficking of guns from other states into their communities.