The NYPD has seized more than 1,000 illegal guns from the city’s streets so far this year – a milestone that Mayor Eric Adams applauded Monday as he pointed the finger at repeat offenders for bringing weapons into the Big Apple.
Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the public safety feat at the NYPD’s 75th Precinct in East New York – where dozens of seized guns were lined up on two tables in front of them.
“These guns… carve highways of death through our communities,” Adams said. “They devastate lives. Even when the bullet hits the intended target or unintended target, the pathway of destruction does not stop. It rips apart the anatomy of our community and it devastates the loved ones and family members.”
“When we take a gun off the street, we are able to alleviate, if not eradicate, that pain,” he added. “And that’s what the men and women are doing in this city that wear that blue uniform.”
Hizzoner linked the illegal guns to repeat offenders – less than two weeks after Tisch raged against an “unsustainable” revolving door of recidivism driving the city’s crime.
“I would challenge anyone, each one of these guns, I guarantee you, the person we got it from, in some way or another, had already had an interaction with the criminal justice system,” Adams said. “And this is why we’re focusing on recidivism over and over again.”
Tisch also pointed out that of the more than 1,000 firearms seized, 40 were ghost guns – “the untraceable firearms assembled with the intent to evade law enforcement.”
She also noted that “rapid fire modification devices” were attached to some of the handguns, turning them into “high-capacity weapons capable of firing at an alarming rate.”
In total, 20,700 guns have been removed from the city’s streets since the start of the Adams administration – an increase of 3,000 compared to the three years before his term began, from 2019 to 2021, the mayor’s office said.
The announcement also came a week after the NYPD revealed that the city shattered a 30-year record for the fewest number of shootings in the first two months of the year.
The Big Apple saw 93 incidents of gun violence between January and February, the fewest for those months since 1993, officials said.
“So those who have not read the memo, stop saying our city is in chaos and crisis,” the mayor said. “It is not. The numbers don’t lie, your noise lies. Let’s stay focused on what we’re doing and applaud these men and women who are doing the job every day. They’re doing the dangerous work of interacting with armed recidivists, repeated offenders over and over again.”
