Jersey City Police Chief Takes Aim at NRA

MYFOXNY.COM - Jersey City's top cop angrily denounced the influx of illegal guns onto the streets of the city and even took rhetorical aim at the National Rifle Association after an early-morning shootout left five cops wounded, two critically.

"We need help to stop these weapons from hitting the street," said Police Chief Thomas Comey. "This weapon is manufactured for nothing other than to hunt man."

Police Chief Thomas Comey was angry that a suspect who had a prior weapons conviction had no trouble obtaining the Mossberg pump-action tactical shotgun.

The suspect, Hassan Shakur, used the shotgun loaded with buckshot and slugs to shoot at Jersey City and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey cops.

Officers returned fire, killing Shakur and an apparent accomplice, Amanda Anderson.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Comey said he considers that type of shotgun an "assault weapon" that should be used by law enforcement and no one else. He said that authorities traced the gun's serial number and were reasonably certain that at some point the weapon was purchased legally in the South.

"We should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid [for] our own rights," Comey said.

The NRA could not be reached for comment Thursday.