Brooklyn Politicians Shaken by 'Hostile' NRA Photoshop

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — America’s 1st Freedom, a National Rifle Association (NRA) publication, ran an image Monday depicting Polaroids of two female Brooklyn politicians strewn with bullets.

The image accompanied an op-ed, written by America’s 1st Freedom editor Mark Chestnut, that came out against gun-control legislation proposed by the two politicians — State Sen. Roxanne Persaud and State Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon — in late December.

The op-ed and image were published just four days before the fifth anniversary of Rep. Gabby Giffords’ near-fatal shooting in Arizona.

“Unfortunately, we don’t always know how individuals, especially those who are fiercely determined to block any and all firearm safety legislation, will react,” Sen. Persaud responded in her own piece for the New York Daily News. “The photo they released clearly has the potential to cause harm.”

“Given the charged rhetoric and heightened emotions regarding the gun safety issue, it is irresponsible for the NRA to express their sentiments in such a hostile manner,” Persaud wrote. “Placing bullets on pictures of elected officials, especially when we know that elected officials have been targeted by violent extremists in the past, is reckless and dangerous.”

A spokesman for the NRA confirmed that America’s 1st Freedom is one of the NRA’s various official publications. Asked Tuesday morning whether NRA leadership was standing behind the publication’s decision to run the image, the spokesman said he would try to respond later in the day. (However, he noted, there may be a delay, given the high volume of media inquiries regarding President Obama’s executive order Tuesday requiring background checks for all gun sales.)

Simon is a representative for the New York State Assembly. She represents Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Gowanus and parts of Park Slope and Red Hook.

Persaud, newly elected to the New York State Senate in the recent November elections, represents East New York, Canarsie, Bergen Beach, Mill Basin and Sheepshead Bay.

The two politicians announced Dec. 20 that they’d be introducing state legislation to further tighter gun sales in New York.

From an explainer on the proposed legislation, issued by the office of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams:

“Section 270.00 of the New York State Penal Law would be amended to prevent gun dealers from selling ammunition for a firearm to anyone unauthorized to have such a weapon, regardless of the weapon type; under the current code, only pistols and revolvers are specifically regulated, creating a loophole for those seeking to purchase ammunition for assault weapons. Penalty for the violation of this law would also be increased from a Class B misdemeanor, or not more than three months in jail and not more than $500 in fines, to a Class E felony, or up to four years in prison with a minimum of one year. Additionally, the new measure would create a cap on the amount of ammunition that a person can purchase over a period of 90 days, corresponding to no more than twice the amount of the capacity of the weapon.”

Borough President Adams applauded the legislation, which he called a mandatory response to “the blood-soaked carnage of mass shootings, made possible by the calculated and unrestricted stockpiling of thousands of deadly ammunition rounds.”