Mayor Adams Announces Removal of Over 1,000 Illegal Firearms From New York City Streets Since Beginning of 2025

March 10, 2025

Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdFm4lTLjVM

More Than 20,700 Gun Seizures Has Led to Three Consecutive Years of Shooting and Homicide Declines, Shootings Down Over 21 Percent and Homicides Down Over 26 Percent Year-to Date

New York City Has Broken Record for Fewest Number of Shootings in January and February in City History

New York – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch today announced that the NYPD removed over 1,000 illegal firearms from New York City streets since the beginning of the new year – bringing the total number of firearms seized since the start of Adams administration to 20,700. The significant firearm seizure figure represents more than 3,000 additional illegal guns removed from New York City streets compared to three years before Mayor Adams came into office, between 2019 and 2021. Because of the Adams administration's steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, homicides and shootings have consistently declined over the last three years, dropping a total of 42.2 percent and 22.7 percent for shootings and homicides, respectively.

"In the first two months of 2025, New York City saw the fewest number of shooting incidents in the city's history, a 14.5 percent decline compared to the same period in 2024, and a major victory in our campaign to keep New Yorkers safe," said Mayor Adams. "Every day, the brave men and women of the NYPD are out there doing this dangerous work – working to protect New Yorkers against violent, armed recidivists – and this year alone, they have already removed more than 1,000 illegal guns from city streets. When you deploy well-trained officers to the right areas, New Yorkers can see and feel the difference, and because of our steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, New York City continues to be the safest big city in America."

"Across the city, we continue to break crime records and make our communities safer. We saw the lowest number of shootings in recorded history for the first two months of the year combined, and we're down double-digits in major crimes," said NYPD Commissioner Tisch. "Today, we surpassed another milestone – seizing more than 1,000 illegal guns so far this year from our streets and subways. Each of these guns represents a potential tragedy averted and life saved. This is what relentless, targeted enforcement looks like, and it's all because of the tireless work that the men and women of the NYPD do every day to keep us safe."

The NYPD is New York City's first line of defense against gun violence, and officers continue to save countless lives every day by continuing to take illegal firearms off the streets every day. Last year marked the fourth lowest year in recorded history for shooting incidents citywide. In February 2025, shooting incidents decreased by 20.8 percent compared to the previous year, representing 22 fewer shooting victims, following a decrease of 21.5 percent in January 2025. For the first two months of the year, shooting incidents were at the lowest points in the city's recorded history.

Overall major crimes also continue to trend downward. In February 2025, there was a 14.5 decrease in major crime citywide – the third consecutive month of double-digit decreases in crime – following a 15.5 percent decrease in crime in December 2024 and 16.8 decrease in crime in January 2025, the largest one-month decrease since before Mayor Adams came into office.

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 against one 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 20,700 guns seized since the beginning of the Adams administration, 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 firearms. 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, 438 in 2024, and already 40 so far in only the first two months of 2025.

In July 2024, Mayor Adams led the charge urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold commonsense 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 being held on bail or remanded.

"This announcement marks a crucial step forward in the ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of our communities," said New York State Senator Roxanne J. Persaud. "I wholeheartedly stand with the commitment to eradicate gun violence, and these continued successes demonstrate the effectiveness of proactive policing. We are all committed to making New York City a safer place for all."

"There are no gun manufacturers in New York City, but the evil scourge of gun violence has still cut short the lives of far too many New Yorkers," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "I know the unimaginable pain of losing a close friend to gun violence, so I'm pleased with the progress that has recently been made in getting so many guns off our streets. My office will continue to work with our law enforcement, government, and community partners to close the iron pipeline, rid streets of illegal weapons, and keep families safe from senseless gun violence."

"Every illegal gun taken off the streets makes our city safer, and the NYPD's success in removing illegal firearms is a major reason why Brooklyn saw record-low gun violence in 2024," said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. "Shootings continue to drop, and murders in our borough are down by more than half so far this year. We'll keep working with our partners to build on this progress, reduce the proliferation of illegal guns, and protect our communities from the devastation they cause."

"From ghost guns to assaults rifles, the prevalence of unregistered and illegal firearms simply makes New York City less safe," said Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon. "As Staten Island's chief law enforcement officer, I am committed to removing dangerous and illegal weapons from our community and preventing acts of gun violence whenever possible and by any means necessary. Working in partnership with the NYPD, my office has implemented precision prosecution against those who carry, brandish, or use an illegal firearm and have hosted countless Cash for Guns events across our borough which have removed nearly 1,000 firearms from our shores. To be sure, there remains much work to do to prevent these senseless acts of violence and to stem the flow of firearms entering into our city. Rest assured, the men and women of my office and the NYPD will continue to do all we can to remove these deadly weapons from our streets and ensure that the perpetrators of gun violence face serious consequences in the courtroom."