Metro Exclusive: Brooklyn BP makes gun safety recommendations

Even as murder rates go down, gun violence is on the rise in Brooklyn and the borough’s president Eric Adams has a plan to stop it.

A report set to be released today shows Brooklyn neighborhoods continued to be plagued by gun violence even though the 2014 murder rate for New York City was at an all-time low, and the state ranks third lowest for per capita firearm deaths.

Crown Heights, Flatbush and East New York had the three highest homicide rates for youths aged 15-24, with 41.9 homicides per 100,000 in Crown Heights, 29.8 in Flatbush and 26.9 in East New York. Crown Heights also leads the city in firearm related hospitalizations, with 123.8 per 100,000 youth compared to a city average of 36.4.

“We really want to send a message that smart technology should be embraced by gun manufacturers to ensure dumb people dont hurt smart people by using handguns,” Adams told Metro.

Among Adams’ key recommendations is a call to the NYPD to develop a pilot program that uses fingerprint recognition technology to fire guns, as well as mount micro-cameras on guns that record activity after a gun is drawn. Adams, a retired police captain, said an NYPD pilot is the best way to safely test out technology that isn’t being taken advantage of.

“When it comes to comes, technology has basically escaped the iPad generation,” Adams said.

Other recommendations in the report include requirements that would require gun dealers to notify law enforcement when someone legally barred from possessing a gun attempts to purchase one, and background checks for all gun dealer employees. Adams also wants to see more training for New York gun owners, tighter storage requirements and a ban on armor-piercing and hollow point ammunition.