The NYPD says it has removed more than 3,000 firearms from New York City streets so far this year, a major enforcement benchmark that comes as shootings across the five boroughs continue falling to historic lows, department leaders said Tuesday.
The total includes 199 so-called “ghost guns” — unserialized, hard-to-trace weapons — and was announced after officials reported last week that murders, shooting incidents and the number of people wounded by gunfire had all reached record-low levels for the first seven months of the year.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch credited the results to what she described as the department’s precision-policing approach, which centers on deploying officers at the times and locations where they are most needed, targeting the individuals driving violence and aggressively removing illegal guns from circulation.
Tisch also praised officers and partner agencies for their role in the anti-gun violence push, including the Gun Violence Strategies Partnership, saying their work helps investigators build stronger cases, hold offenders responsible and protect communities across New York City.
Overall, police said New York’s Finest have seized 3,259 guns since January, with Brooklyn accounting for the largest share at 915 firearms recovered, followed by 782 in the Bronx and 764 in Manhattan during the seven-month period.
Queens saw another 605 guns taken off the streets, while officers recovered 193 firearms in Staten Island, according to NYPD figures.
Tisch said the department’s emphasis on gun seizures remains a key piece of its broader strategy to reduce shootings, which have dropped to historic lows this year, including the lowest number of murders ever recorded in New York City during the first six months of a year.
The decline fits into a wider public safety trend, with major crimes in the city down 9.5% over the first four months of 2026.
Through the end of July, Tisch said cops reported 381 shootings in the five boroughs, surpassing the previous record of 412, set over the same period just last year.
Meanwhile, the number of shooting victims also set a new low, with 462 compared to 489 over the same span last year, while the 149 murders so far this year also set a new record, beating the 174 murders recorded over the first seven months of 2017, the commissioner said.
The department credited a new initiative that uses data to target areas prone to violent crime and gunplay based on tracked trends. Since launching the Summer Violence Reduction Plan on May 4, major crime has dipped nearly 25% in the city through Aug. 10, police said.
“Brooklyn is experiencing a public safety renaissance, with record-shattering declines in
homicides and shootings, and no murders for almost a full month this summer,” Brooklyn
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement Tuesday.
“Taking over 3,000 illegal guns off city streets is an important component of this ongoing success, and I thank the NYPD for the hard and diligent work that keeps us all safe,” Gonzalez said.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg added, “Every illegal gun off our streets can prevent a potential tragedy.”
