New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that 70 firearms were turned in at a community gun buyback event hosted by her office and the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
This event was part of Attorney General James’ historic effort to hold nine simultaneous gun buyback events on the same day in communities throughout the state. Including the guns turned in at the Bronx event, Attorney General James secured more than 3,000 guns today alone from across the state.
To date, Attorney General James has removed more than 7,000 guns from New York communities since taking office in 2019.
“Gun violence has caused so many avoidable tragedies and robbed us of so many innocent New Yorkers,” said Attorney General James. “Through our partnership with local law enforcement and public officials, we were able to organize this historic, single-day gun buyback event in nine locations throughout New York state. Every gun that we removed out of Bronx homes and off the streets is a potential tragedy averted and another step in protecting communities throughout New York state.”
Today’s statewide gun buyback resulted in the collection of more than 3,000 guns, including 185 assault rifles, 1,656 handguns, and 823 long guns. These figures include the 70 guns collected from the Bronx event, which included five assault rifles, 43 handguns, and nine long guns. Altogether, Attorney General James has removed more than 7,000 from New York communities since taking office in 2019.
“The NYPD is proud to partner with the New York State Attorney General’s Office in an effort to make our communities safer through this comprehensive gun buyback in both the Bronx and Brooklyn,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Community Affairs Mark Stewart. “Gun violence continues to be a pressing issue in our city. Lives are often lost to senseless gun-related incidents, and it is our shared responsibility to take action to prevent further tragedies. The gun buybacks are just one of the many steps we are taking to promote public safety and prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands.”
“Gun violence is an all too familiar issue for many residents and families in our borough, which is why we need partners like Attorney General James who are committed to ending the proliferation of guns in our communities,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson. “Every New Yorker has a fundamental right to feel safe in their neighborhood and initiatives like this gun buyback are essential in removing illegal guns off our streets. I want to thank Attorney General James for her leadership and commitment to making our state safe.”
“We applaud Attorney General Letitia James for continuing to take proactive steps to keep our communities safe,” said Shari Maurer, Volunteer, New York Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “New York is demonstrating its ongoing commitment to a multi-faceted approach to saving lives and we look forward to continuing to partner with her office and lawmakers to keep New York a national leader in the gun safety movement.”
“New York continues to be a national leader in smart, effective gun laws. And as a result, it has one of the lowest gun death rates in the country — 63% below the national average,” said David Pucino, Deputy Chief Counsel, Giffords Law Center. “Attorney General James’s leadership has been critical to New York’s success in fighting gun violence, but there is more work to do. This weekend’s buyback will get more potentially dangerous guns off the streets. And while we can never know whose lives will be saved by this initiative, we know fewer families will be victimized by gun violence. Thank you to everyone who made this happen.”
