Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Central Brooklyn) on Monday joined elected colleagues in supporting the inclusion of funding for the Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) in this year’s State budget.
Last week, gun violence prevention groups learned that the Trump administration had abruptly canceled hundreds of millions in previously approved grants that support victims and survivors in communities across New York and around the US.
Monday’s press conference came as NYPD data shows teen gun deaths are skyrocketing in the five boroughs.
“The Trump administration has shown us their priorities— cutting grants, in the middle of a funding cycle, to organizations doing lifesaving work in our communities,” said Myrie, chair of the Senate Codes Committee and lead Senate sponsor of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
“At this moment, New York must once again lead the way by formally establishing the Office of Gun Violence Prevention in our laws and by fully funding OGVP so it can support the organizations we know are saving lives and protecting our communities every day,” added the candidate for Mayor of the City of New York, whose grandmother hailed from Jamaica.
Assembly Member Monique Chandler Waterman, lead Assembly sponsor of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, said. “The decision by the US Department of Justice to pull nearly $180 million in grant funding from Community Violence Intervention groups is more than a budgetary shift; it’s a message to the most vulnerable communities that their safety can be deprioritized.
“Gun violence and trauma do not stop when funding disappears,” added the representative for the 58th Assembly District in Brooklyn. “It is imperative that we recognize these community groups are the frontline responders engaging around collaborative wrap-around services in neighborhoods, where the healing of communities begins.
“Although disinvestments by the federal government may ensue, this is not a time to draw back; this is a time for us to double down and ensure that every life receives the investments they deserve,” continued Chandler-Waterman, the daughter of Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants.
Before the press conference, Myrie and Chandler Waterman convened an emergency conference call with over 60 community violence intervention groups, which now face drastic and unexpected cuts in funding.
Myrie, a representative for the 20th Senate District in Brooklyn, noted that President Biden established a White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention in 2023, but President Trump immediately disbanded it on Jan. 20, 2025.
With shooting incidents remaining above pre-pandemic levels, he said a formally established New York State Office of Gun Violence Prevention would Coordinate among government agencies, law enforcement, policy experts, and other stakeholders on gun safety efforts; help implement state gun laws and programs in coordination with prosecutors, police, judges and licensing authorities; and develop public education campaigns and training for professionals and community members.
The office would also distribute and coordinate government grant funding for gun violence prevention strategies and initiatives, including community and hospital violence intervention programs, youth programs, and trauma support services; improve the quality of and access to statewide gun violence data; and enhance hospital capacity for victims and survivors of gun violence, which can provide lifesaving trauma support after shootings occur and help prevent retaliatory cycles of violence.
In addition, Myrie said the office would establish an Advisory Council composed of diverse stakeholders to provide recommendations to the OGVP.
He said New York’s current OGVP exists solely through executive orders dating back to 2021.
The senator said legislation formally establishing OGVP in the laws was included in the Assembly and Senate budget proposals passed in March.
Myrie has been a leader in gun violence prevention since joining the State Senate in 2019.
In 2021, he wrote the nation’s first gun industry accountability law, allowing civil suits in state court against reckless and irresponsible gun companies.
Since then, Myrie said the law has survived several rounds of court challenges and has been adopted in eight other states across the US.
In recognition of his leadership in 2021, Everytown named Myrie its Gun Sense Lawmaker of the Year, and he received the Founders’ Award from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.
Myrie also wrote laws to dedicate funding to community violence intervention programs and to expand access to compensation for crime victims.
In 2024, he wrote a law to ensure banks can detect and deter suspicious patterns of firearm purchases and introduced legislation to ban pistols that can be easily converted into automatic weapons.
