Bloomberg calls for stricter gun laws after cop shootings

The shooting of four NYPD cops over the weekend spurred Mayor Michael Bloomberg to speak out Monday on one of his signature issues -- gun control -- but also to dismiss the notion that the city is becoming less safe.

Since the beginning of the year, eight police officers have been shot at in four separate incidents. In addition, Detective Peter Figoski was slain last December while trying to apprehend a gunman in Brooklyn.

"It certainly doesn't mean we're going through a crime wave -- quite the opposite," Bloomberg said at an unrelated news conference Monday.

He added that crime statistics show the city has gotten safer. Major crimes in New York, including murder and robbery, totaled more than 107,000 last year, a 33% decline over a 10-year period, according to the NYPD.

But crime complaints have increased by 3.7% this year through April 1 compared to the same period a year ago.

Bloomberg blamed the prevalence of illegal guns and the lack of stricter gun laws for contributing to the number of shooting cases nationwide.

Nakwon Foxworth, the suspect in Sunday's shootout in Brooklyn, allegedly had a cache of firearms in his possession, even though he was previously convicted of attempted murder and other charges.

Eugene O'Donnell, a police studies professor at John Jay College, said the number of cop shootings this year "underscores the need for smart policing to go after dangerous people."

"There's a real viciousness and a desperate subset of people willing to kill police officers," O'Donnell said. "That should concern all of us."