New York’s illegal weapon seizures are increasing as the number of shootings is declining.
On Wednesday, Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams attributed this development to their coordinated efforts to combat gun violence.
Hochul presented new data before a meeting of an anti-gun trafficking task force in downtown Manhattan, revealing that 6,000 illegal guns have been found across the state this year, up 20% from the same period in 2021.
According to the data, the number of reported shootings in the state has decreased by 11%, while the number of gunshot victims has decreased by 12%, according to the data.
“This is the first notable decrease in gun violence since we really had a spike in 2020,” Hochul said.
Hochul recognized that gun violence rates are still far higher than before the outbreak.
“The trend is going downward, but we will not rest until we get it down to where we had been where people really did generally feel safe,” Hochul added.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations that can share intelligence and other information to take action against weapons traffickers make up the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns, which was scheduled to meet in private following the news conference.
Hochul and Adams removed prohibitions on information exchange between law enforcement agencies, which allowed the task force to be created.
According to Adams, the recent statistical improvements can be attributed to coordinating efforts.
“It’s something that we can duplicate across the entire country,” Adams said.
“This is a national crisis that we’re facing, and a crisis calls for coordination,” Adams added.
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