New York City's War on Guns

MYFOXNY.COM - At Gracie Mansion Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city officials met with religious and community leaders to talk about gun violence. A recent rash of gun violence in which stray bullets have hit innocent bystanders prompted the meeting and discussion.

Vada Casquez, 15, was shot in the back of the head Monday. The bullet struck her while she was walking home from school in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. It was intended for another teenager.

Then on Wednesday, Virginia Valree, a grandmother, was shot in the leg in Harlem, also by a stray bullet.

Attending the Gracie Mansion meeting was Gloria Cruz. She turned activist after her niece, Naisha Pearson, was shot to death also by a stray bullet in the Bronx in 2005. Naisha was 10 years old.

The Rev. Al Sharpton held a private meeting with the mayor to discuss gun violence and his day of outrage Monday. He says more must be done -- by him and the communities at large -- to encourage young people to put down their guns and end the cycle of violence.

The question is can the ideas from a meeting in pristine Gracie Mansion translate to the hard realities of crime ridden neighborhoods of New York City.