What to Know
- On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that just in the seven months since the creation of the task force, illegal gun seizures are up 20% across all New York law enforcement agencies.
- In January, the political duo, both Democrats, joined forces with nine other states to form an interstate task force on illegal guns. The task force had the goal of focusing on stopping firearms from being trafficked into New York from other states.
- Starting Wednesday gun kits will also be required to have serial numbers and untraceable firearms will no longer be legal to sell.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams continue their work together to combat ghost guns.
In January, the political duo, both Democrats, joined forces with nine other states to form an interstate task force on illegal guns. The task force had the goal of focusing on stopping firearms from being trafficked into New York from other states.
On Wednesday, Hochul announced that just in the seven months since the creation of the task force, illegal gun seizures are up 20% across all New York law enforcement agencies. In total, more than 6,000 illegal guns have been seized since the start of the Interstate Gun Task Force on Illegal Guns, Hochul said.
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"Given the scale of this crisis, we can only confront it in an effective way by working with partners who share our goals," Hochul said during a Wednesday press conference with Adams.
Hochul also announced that New York State Police seized 1,468 guns from August 2021 to July 2022: the highest number in the history of the agency. This represents a 140% increase when compared to August 2020 to July 2021, when the State Police seized 612 guns.
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"Gun manufacturers, gun distributors, gun users are not stopping at our borders," Adams said. "They do not stop based on the boundaries of the state borders."
Hochul and Adams' joint press conference on the subject comes as President Joe Biden’s executive order banning ghost guns goes into effect.
Starting Wednesday gun kits will be required to have serial numbers and untraceable firearms will no longer be legal to sell.
