Mayor Adams Announces Removal of 20,000+ Illegal Firearms From New York City Streets Since Beginning of Adams Administration

January 22, 2025

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Gun Seizures Have Contributed to 23 Percent Reduction in Homicides and 42 Percent Reduction in Shootings Since January 2022

3,000 More Firearms Were Removed from 2022 to 2024 Than Previous Three-Year Period

NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has removed more than 20,000 illegal firearms from New York City streets since the beginning of the administration - which is approximately 3,000 more guns off our streets than the previous three-year period from 2019 to 2021. Because of the Adams administration's steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, homicides and shootings have consistently declined over the last three years - with homicides decreasing a total of 22.7 percent and shootings decreasing 42.2 percent since Mayor Adams was sworn in on January 1, 2022. Additionally, 2024 was the fourth lowest year for shooting incidents citywide since the NYPD CompStat management system began tracking crime statistics over 30 years ago, in 1993.

"The North Star of our administration has been safer streets, safer subways, and a safer city for New York families," said Mayor Adams. "And that means taking on the issue of gun violence. The NYPD has removed more than 20,000 illegal firearms from our streets since the day I was sworn in as your mayor. That's 20,000 weapons that no longer threaten the safety of our neighborhoods, our families, and our children. That's 20,000 fewer chances that a New Yorker is shot or killed - 20,000 rivers of violence dammed up before they flood our city. This is a major milestone. Over the past three years, we launched Neighborhood Safety Teams and established the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force - we invested in diversion programs, targeted the root causes of gun violence, raised expectations, and increased enforcement across the board. Because of our steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, New York City continues to be the safest big city in America."

"Since the start of this administration, the NYPD has successfully taken a staggering 20,000 illegal guns off the streets of New York City - weapons that pose a serious threat to all our communities," said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. "Whether on the streets or in the subways, our officers work tirelessly to seize these weapons, and the results are clear: shootings are down 42 percent throughout the city. Every single gun we seize is a potential life saved and tragedy averted, and we will continue our efforts to crack down on illegal trafficking and protect New Yorkers from this violence."

The NYPD is New York City's first line of defense against gun violence, and officers continue to take firearms off the streets in record numbers every day. The consistent decreases in homicides over the last three years have saved 268 lives and resulted in 1,500 fewer shooting victims during the Adams administration. Year-to-date, in 2025, there have already been 350 illegal firearms removed from city streets, as NYPD officers continue to save lives.

Every firearm taken off a city street is only one part of the equation - ensuring meaningful consequences for the small percentage of New Yorkers who possess illegal firearms and commit violence is another. The 2019 state legislative changes to discovery were necessary to improve the fairness of the criminal justice system, however some of the consequences have crippled the system, leading to case dismissals for technical violations and increased case processing times, including for firearm charges. Prior to discovery reform, local district attorneys declined to prosecute or dismissed 32 percent of non-violent felony cases in New York City - that number increased to 51 percent in 2023.

Out of the more than 20,000 guns seized, more than 1,400 of them have been identified as ghost guns - unserialized (and therefore untraceable) firearms that are put together by components purchased either as a kit or as separate pieces or printed through 3-D printers, and that are fully functioning as fully finished, serialized firearm. These untraceable firearms often end up in the hands of criminals, as well as underage purchasers. Incidents involving ghost guns reflect a dangerously escalating trend - one that the NYPD is leading the charge against. The NYPD recovered 17 ghost guns in 2018, 48 in 2019, 150 in 2020, 263 in 2021, 585 in 2022, 394 in 2023 and 438 in 2024.

In July 2024, Mayor Adams led the charge urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold common sense ghost gun regulations. Along with Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., Mayor Adams announced the filing of an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Garland v. VanDerStok, in support of federal regulations issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that require ghost gun parts to have serial numbers and compel background checks for prospective buyers of ghost gun home-assembly kits.  

Ending gun violence continues to be Mayor Adams' top priority. In his first month in office, in January 2022, Mayor Adams released the "Blueprint to End Gun Violence," which laid out his priorities to immediately address the crisis of guns on New York City streets. Pursuant to the blueprint, in March 2022, the NYPD launched its Neighborhood Safety Teams to focus on gun violence prevention in areas that account for a disproportionate amount of citywide shootings.

Mayor Adams' comprehensive gun violence strategy also includes upstream solutions guided by the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force he established in June 2022, which focuses on diversion programs, prevention efforts, and expanded opportunities for young people - all targeting the root causes of gun violence to ensure a safer environment for all New Yorkers. The task force's commitments are formalized in the "Blueprint for Community Safety," an investment of nearly $500 million to create safer, more resilient communities, with a focus on intervention and prevention.

The Adams administration also leads the Gun Violence Strategies Partnership, a 30+ multi-agency law enforcement partnership focused on strengthening investigations and prosecutions of the most severe gun offenders who drive violence in New York City. Members of the team meet every weekday morning to review felony gun violence arrests from the previous 24 hours and share intelligence to ensure perpetrators are held accountable and New Yorkers are kept safe. The partnership reviewed more than 700 cases in 2024, resulting in 85.5 percent of individuals held on bail or remand.

"Like so many communities across the country, New York City has been deeply affected by gun violence," said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. "I am pleased to see progress in getting these deadly weapons off our streets, and I am proud that my anti-gun trafficking statute in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has directly helped law enforcement recover hundreds of illegal guns in New York City. I will continue working with my colleagues in Congress to pass commonsense gun safety legislation that protects our communities."

"I am heartened to hear that our violence prevention and intervention efforts are working," said New York State Senator Cordell Cleare. "However, I remain committed to addressing the entire spectrum of social determinants of violence including housing, poverty, discrimination, and inequity."

"I am taking charge in Albany to end gun violence. I passed the SMOKEOUT Act to padlock the illegal smoke shops attracting armed robberies and introduced legislation to require registration and background checks for 3-D printed firearms," said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. "I commend Mayor Adams and the NYPD for their tremendous work tackling gun violence in New York City. In three years, they have taken over 20,000 firearms off our streets - about 3,000 more than the previous three - saving us from countless tragedies. The proof is in the numbers: shootings are down 42.2 percent since the mayor took office, and murders down 22.7 percent. Together, we will develop every solution to stop gun violence once and for all."

"Every gun off of our streets is a potential life saved, as demonstrated by these encouraging statistics," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. "In Manhattan, working hand-in-hand with our exceptional law enforcement partners at the NYPD, we are proud to have driven down murders by 20 percent and shootings by 45 percent since 2021. We will continue to prioritize combatting gun violence by strategically targeting drivers of violence, gun traffickers, and ghost gun manufacturers, while working with our communities and investing in prevention."

"There are no gun manufacturers in New York City, but we have lost far too many lives to gun violence throughout our history," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "I know the unimaginable pain of losing a close friend to gun violence, so I'm deeply grateful to our government, community and law enforcement partners for their tireless work taking as many guns off our streets as possible. I look forward to continued success in this area and to seeing fewer and fewer people fall victim to senseless gun violence."

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