If you want to legally purchase and keep a handgun in your home in New York City, it’s going to take hundreds of dollars in application fees and many months of waiting for approval by the NYPD.
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If, on the other hand, you don’t mind breaking the law, acquiring a handgun in New York City is so easy even a teenager can do it.
A 17-year-old Forest Hills High School student who waved a loaded gun on Instagram in a threatening manner was arrested and charged with a felony, officials confirmed.
A video obtained by The Post shows the teen handling a firearm, an ammo clip and bullets, then gyrating and waving a gun while speaking along to the words in a rap song, “Bow, bow. Somebody gotta go down.”
Classmates who saw the video posted on Jan. 7 told their parents, who then notified the school.
The NYPD’s 112th Precinct boasted on Facebook about the arrest of “an individual” found in possession of an illegal firearm and imitation gun.
The NYPD would not name the suspect, but the Queens District Attorney’s Office identified Moshe Khaimov as the “adolescent offender,” a term for youths aged 16 and 17 accused of a violent felony, and whose cases are made public.
Khaimov is charged with criminal possession of a loaded weapon, an armed felony offense, a criminal complaint states.
How did Khaimov allegedly get ahold of a gun and bullets, given New York’s restrictive gun laws? Prosecutors haven’t released any details regarding Khaimov’s acquisition of the handgun and ammunition, but neither New York City’s gun licensing laws or the state’s requirement that all ammunition sales go through a background check appear to have had any impact on the teen’s ability to illegally arm himself.
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The New York Post reports that Khaimov had been on the radar of teachers and school officials, and at least one educator blamed school officials for not taking his previous actions seriously.
In an email to Principal Paul Wilbur, Forest Hills teacher Adam Bergstein described Khaimov as “a clear and present danger” who has struck and threatened students and staff, and brought other weapons to school.
Bergstein faulted the city Department of Education for a system of lax discipline.
“Schools are in a constant state of danger because the DOE refuses to hold students accountable for their behavior until it’s sometimes too late,” Bergstein told The Post.
“They rely on restorative justice circles instead of punishing a child when they are dangerous and clearly pose a risk to everyone in a school.”
If Khaimov really did have so many previous disciplinary problems, including threats to both students and staff members, why was he still able to attend his local high school?
Bergstein’s email raises a host of troubling questions about the ability and willingness of the NYC Department of Education to keep students, faculty, administrators, and support staff safe while on campus. And the ease with which Khaimov was apparently able to arm himself despite all of the gun control laws in place in New York City and at the state level is another infuriating reminder that these laws have far more of an impact on folks who are trying to lawfully exercise their Second Amendment rights than those with violent intent. It’s much easier to illegally obtain a gun in New York than to acquire one through the proper channels; a fact that doesn’t seem to bother the anti-gun majority of lawmakers in New York City and Albany much, if at all.
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