In a concerted effort to combat gun violence, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch have heralded a milestone achievement in public safety. Since the dawn of 2025, the NYPD has successfully extricated over 1,000 illegal firearms from the city's bustling streets. This surge in seizures boosts the tally to 20,700 firearms since Adams took office, a decisive uptick in comparison to prior years.

Mayor Adams expressed pride in New York City's decline in gun-related incidents, a testimony to the effectiveness of the city's policing strategy. "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," Adams told NYC's Office of the Mayor. Shootings and homicides have witnessed a downhill slide under his tenure, with a noteworthy 42.2 percent drop in homicides and a 22.7 percent decline in shootings.

Adding to this narrative of success, Tisch highlighted the significant reduction of major crimes throughout the metropolis. "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," she affirmed. The first two months of 2025 have seen the lowest number of shootings on record, complementing the double-digit dip in crime rates witnessed since December 2024, as mentioned on the city's website.

The prevalence of 'ghost guns' – which are untraceable due to a lack of serialization – have been a particular focus for the NYPD, with over 1,400 ghost guns intercepted under Adams' governance. An increasing record number of these DIY firearms recovered each year underlines a disturbing trend that the NYPD is vigorously confronting. In response, Mayor Adams has thrown his weight behind national regulatory efforts to stifle the circulation of these dangerous weapons.

A holistic approach to gun violence prevention includes the establishment of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, aiming to tackle the underlying causes of gun-related crimes. Dedicated to drafting a "Blueprint for Community Safety", the task force is part of a nearly $500 million initiative designed to create more resilient communities through intervention and prevention strategies. Furthermore, the inter-agency Gun Violence Strategies Partnership works tenaciously to fortify investigations and prosecute pivotal gun violence perpetrators.

The removal of illicit firearms from NYC's diverse boroughs has been met with broad support from local officials. Notable figures like New York State Senator Roxanne J. Persaud, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon have commended the tangible progress in narrowing down gun violence and pledged further actions to ensure the city's safety. McMahon emphasized the ongoing commitment to tackling gun violence, stating that the men and women of his office, along with the NYPD, will remain relentless in their efforts to remove dangerous weapons from the streets and ensure that those responsible for gun violence face severe consequences in court, as per the official statement.