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Leading NYC mayoral candidate said last year he’d drop security and carry his own gun if he wins race

by Lawrence Richard,

The Democratic front-runner in the New York City mayoral race said last year he would not use personal security if he wins the election, opting instead to carry his own gun.

“Yes I will, No. 1,” Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said in January 2020 when asked if he would keep his firearm if elected mayor.

“And No. 2, I won’t have a security detail. If the city is safe, the mayor shouldn’t have a security detail with him. He should be walking the street by himself,” he added.

Adams is leading the competitive field of mayoral candidates, according to the results of a new three-day survey conducted by Washington-based advisory firm GQR.

The former New York City Police Department captain does not tote the traditionally anti-gun stance of his Democratic colleagues and once encouraged off-duty officers to carry their firearms.

Shortly after the 2018 shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, Adams advised officers to bring firearms into their churches with them as a potential line of defense.

“If we have officers who are trained on how to respond to emergencies, how to move people to safety, how to properly use a firearm — if they’re leaving those firearms at home, I’m saying to them, stop leaving your firearms at home,” Adams said at the time. “Do as I do: Bring your firearm to church.”

Adams’s 21% support puts him ahead of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who garnered 18% support, in the race for mayor and City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who garnered 15%.

Until the new poll, Adams was ranked second behind the nationally popular Yang, both of whom are campaigning as moderate relative to the other candidates. The poll also comes before Adams has tapped into his $7.9 million in campaign funds for TV ads.

A Yang spokesperson, however, said he is confident his candidate will return to the top spot, citing other polls that show Yang in the lead.

“Every other poll has us in first place, but we’ve always said this would be a close race,” Yang co-campaign manager Chris Coffey said. “The only poll that really matters is the one on June 22, and we expect to win that one.”

The poll included 500 likely Democratic primary voters, of which 40% were white, 30% were black, 19% were Hispanic, and 7% were Asian.

Adams’s office did not immediately return the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on whether he still stands by his 2020 comments.

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