Governor Kathy Hochul chalked up recent state decreases in shootings, and an uptick in gun seizures, to her interstate gun task force Wednesday.
The state has seized 6,000 illegal guns since January when the governor assembled the firearms panel, up 20% compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, shootings have dropped by around 11% across the Empire State.
Hochul formed the gun tracking group with eight other East Coast states — Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New Hampshire — and has since also added Canadian province of Quebec. The panel shares local law enforcement information on the flow of firearms and works with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
The task force launched 481 investigations over the past seven months leading to arrests in all nine states, according to the governor.
“That is because of the shared information, which is extraordinary,” Hochul said at an Aug. 24 press conference in Lower Manhattan. “That did not happen before, that is a game changer, that has just happened since this coordination started under my direction.”
New York State Police alone have seized 1,468 illegal guns between August of last year, when Hochul took over the executive chamber, until July 2022, up from 612 for the same period a year before, which was also earlier in New York’s battle against COVID-19.
In New York City, shootings and murders are also down by about 11% through Aug. 21, according to recent NYPD statistics.
City cops have caught more than 4,700 guns and made some 3,000 gun-related arrests so far this year, said Mayor Eric Adams, adding that the initiative was crucial to combatting firearm crimes.
“It appears as though the more we remove a gun off the street, not only are we finding difficulties and stopping those flows of guns to come on the street, but even some of these trigger pullers and shooters have become too comfortable with discharging a weapon and carrying a weapon,” Adams said. “That is why the governor and I are joined at the hip in making sure that we have strong laws to deal with these real crises that we are facing.”
The ATF’s new director Steven Dettelbach – the first Senate-confirmed head of the federal agency in seven years — praised Hochul’s efforts and said Washington will stand behind the task force.
“You will have no stronger and more reliable partner than ATF to support and uplift your incredible efforts here,” Dettelbach said. “This group knows what works, collaboration, information sharing, leveraging technology, and expertise and ATF is all in.”
“That provides the kind of intelligence and information that law enforcement can use to identify and stop trigger pullers, people who are using firearms to kill other people.”
