'We're in a new epidemic': Gov. Andrew Cuomo declares nation's first gun violence disaster emergency after 51 people were shot in New York over Fourth of July weekend

New York has become the first state in the nation to declare gun violence an emergency, with Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday vowing to fight the problem and crack down on gun manufacturers, making it easier to sue those who make the weapons.

Cuomo in a speech on Tuesday pointed the finger at the manufacturers of guns, and announced almost $139 million in investment to reduce the rapidly-rising death toll.

'It is a matter of saving lives, and New York's future depends on it,' Cuomo said at a news conference at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. 

The order comes less than two weeks after Cuomo lifted the state's disaster emergency on the Covid-19 pandemic, and he said gun violence should be treated as a public health crisis. 

Over the Fourth of July weekend, 51 people were shot in New York state with 26 of those in New York City alone. During the holiday weekend, 13 people died of COVID-19. 

'If you can beat COVID, you can beat gun violence. We're in a new epidemic, and it's gun violence, and it's a matter of life and death also,' Cuomo said.

'People are not coming back to this city, they're not coming back to any city, until they know they are safe.' 

In New York City police recorded more than 1,500 shootings in 2020, nearly almost twice as many as 2019, and the violence so far this year is at its highest level since the early 2000s.  

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, was in Manhattan on Tuesday to sign into law a $139 million plan to combat gun crime in the state. Almost half of the money will go to violence prevention initiatives and finding jobs and training for young people deemed most at risk

Cuomo said on Tuesday that the gun violence problem was national - but New York was prepared to lead the way

Some 886 people have been shot in 765 incidents this year through July 4, according to police statistics. 

The governor said that New York should show the rest of the U.S. how to deal with the crisis. 

'Treat gun violence as it is - which is really a public health emergency,' said Cuomo.

'That's what it is, and that's how we're going to treat it.

'So today, first state in the nation, is going to declare a disaster emergency on gun violence.' 

He said gun violence overwhelmingly affects poor, black and Latino communities, whose youth are three to 10 times as likely as whites to be victims of gun violence. But it matters for all, he said, because the state cannot rebound from the pandemic without addressing it.  

New York City police officers investigate the scene where a man was shot and killed in Brooklyn on June 11. Gun crime is soaring in the city, and across the state

The governor said he was appointing a special coordinator for the prevention of gun violence attached to the state's health services.

The office will have to coordinate with social services, prison services, police forces and others.

A special police unit to fight the trafficking of firearms from other states will also be created. 

Cuomo spoke at the end of a bloody July 4 weekend, in which, nationwide, there were more than 400 shootings. At least 150 people died, according to data collected by the Gun Violence Archive.  

'This is a national problem - I get it. But somebody has to step up and somebody has to address it.

'And the place that should step up and address it is the state of New York. 

'And we should do it comprehensively and honestly and creatively. And that's what today is all about,' he said.

Cuomo poses for photos with advocates working to reduce gun violence in New York

New York City police officers with the Crime Scene Unit investigate the scene in Brooklyn on June 11

Members of the New York Police Department investigate the scene of a fatal double-shooting on June 6

The governor said that New York should lead the nation in tackling gun violence. 

New York has some of the strictest gun laws in America but it is easy to travel and buy weapons in the neighboring states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which are more lax. 

'This is the state - when it sees an injustice, we don't look the other way: we stand up and we fight it, and that's what we're going to do with gun violence,' he said. 

Cuomo unveiled special measures aimed at curbing an increase in shootings that have beset New York City since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in spring last year.

'If you look at the recent numbers, more people are now dying from gun violence and crime than COVID,' his office said in a press release.

'This is a national problem but someone has to step up and address this problem because our future depends on it.'

Cuomo also announced $138 million of investment in intervention and prevention programs, including $76 million to create jobs for young people deemed most at risk.

Police in the New York City borough of Queens investigate a shooting on June 6. A man was wounded and a 10-year-old boy was hit in the chest and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital following the drive-by shooting

The governor signed two laws into effect on Tuesday as well.

One 'public nuisance liability' law makes it easier for civilians to bring lawsuits against gun makers and dealers.

Manufacturers have been largely exempt from liability by federal law, which the New York law will circumvent. 

State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who sponsored the gun nuisance law and attended the governor's announcement, said it gave grieving mothers from the violence-plagued Brooklyn district of Brownsville and the city of Buffalo leverage against a gun industry that is making record profits. 

'Illegal guns are responsible for the overwhelming amount of violence on our streets — including the murder of police officers — and now we're the first state in the nation to say enough is enough; if you're a bad actor, you will pay,' he told The New York Times.

The second is designed to prevent those wanted for crimes from being able to acquire a weapon.

These measures come as New York and the US face a sharp rise in crime since last summer.

The country's major cities saw a 30 per cent increase in homicides in 2020, with Republicans accusing Democratic leaders of negligence.

President Joe Biden introduced measures on June 23 to limit the flow of firearms but a divided Congress makes it difficult for Democrats to pass laws.