For New York state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, the level of gun violence in communities like the ones he represents in the Bronx has become all too common. 

"Now kids have to worry about their safety — Kevlar vests and bullet desks in schools," Bailey said. "What kind of world are we living in?"

Democratic lawmakers in Albany want more measures to tackle gun violence in New York after several years of heightened violence that has coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lawmakers and advocates on Tuesday called for an expansion of community violence intervention programs, fairer access to victim compensation and a tax on the sale of ammunition in New York, as well as funding for anti-violence education programs in schools. 

"It is an endemic," Bailey said of the shootings in New York and around the country. "It is something that happens far too often. We see it, we shrug, we do something else." 

Support for the bills came on the fifth anniversary of the Parkland, Florida shooting that left 17 people dead. And only a day earlier, three people were killed at a shooting at Michigan State.  

"There are an assortment of complex, systemic inequities leading to this gun violence crisis combined with the trafficking of guns," said Rebecca Fischer, the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. "We need to be getting to those root causes before young people in vulnerable communities pick up those guns."

New York has some of the strictest gun laws on the books compared to most states. Measures approved last year meant to limit concealed carry of guns in many public places following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling are being challenged in court.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has also sought to address the spread of guns illegally trafficked into New York, and advocates have long lamented the so-called "iron pipeline" of weapons that flow into New York from other states. 

"We're not only looking at the aftermath, we're looking at the root causes as well," Fischer said. "I think there's been a lot of discussion and rhetoric in New York, in New York state, about what is causing this crisis and what's going to fix it so immediately."

But Republican state Assemblyman Matt Slater says the proposals won't address concerns over public safetry. 

"I think there are more root issues starting with cashless bail. You have to go back and fix the cashless bail system, which is failing," Slater said. "Ninety-three percent of New Yorkers have crime as their number one issue. I think that speaks to itself and the fact the Legislature and the governor not tackling those issues head on speaks volumes about what the priorities are. "