New Orleans has witnessed a significant downturn in gun-related arrests and seizures in early 2025, according to recent data released by the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). A week-long report of crime statistics, covering last Sunday to Saturday and compiled by the NOPD Analytics Unit, reveals a pronounced drop in such incidents compared to the year prior.
The NOPD made 70 arrests for illegal possession of a firearm as of year-to-date, a 58-percent decrease when compared to the 166 arrests documented during the same period in 2024. Such figures do seem to suggest potential shifts in local patterns of crime and enforcement, though officials caution that these statistical figures are preliminary and subject to further analysis. In addition to the decrease in arrests, NOPD has also reported to have seized significantly fewer firearms in criminal investigations—341 in 2025, which represents a 45-percent decline from the 615 firearms seized in the corresponding time frame in 2024.
As per the NOPD News release, the data at hand are still to be comprehensively examined, "These statistical figures are preliminary and subject to further analysis and revision."
