In a powerful display of progress in the fight against gun violence, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, and a coalition of community leaders and faith-based activists gathered in Westbury, New York, to witness the destruction of 3,575 seized illegal firearms—3,375 handguns and 200 rifles.

This latest milestone reflects a fraction of the more than 21,400 guns taken off city streets since the start of the Adams administration.

“Today, we say goodbye and good riddance to thousands of illegal guns that no longer threaten the safety of our neighborhoods, our families, or our children by sending over 3,500 illegal guns off to their final destination: into a gun chipper to be turned into scrap metal and eventually recycled,” declared Mayor Adams at the evidence destruction facility Reworld. “These guns will never be used again to endanger another child, terrify another New Yorker, or destroy another life.”

The metal from the destroyed firearms will be repurposed by students in the welding vocational program at the School of Cooperative Technical Education (Coop Tech), who will craft a memorial honoring the victims of gun violence—symbolizing both remembrance and resilience.

NYPD Commissioner Tisch highlighted the strategy behind the operation: “Destroying these 3,575 illegal guns is the final step in a process that starts with precision policing — identifying the right targets, recovering the right weapons, and getting them off our streets for good.”

Each firearm represents a potentially tragic incident averted. Thanks to ongoing initiatives, the city has seen record-breaking declines in violent crime. Between the start of 2025 and the end of March, homicides fell by 34.4%, and shootings dropped by 23.1% year-over-year. In fact, quarter one of 2025 recorded the lowest number of shootings in any three-month span in the city’s history, including zero murders in the transit system for the first time in seven years.

This success comes on the heels of several citywide strategies, including the launch of Neighborhood Safety Teams and the establishment of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in June 2022. The task force’s “Blueprint for Community Safety” has injected nearly $500 million into preventative programs targeting the root causes of gun violence.

Ghost guns—untraceable and often assembled from kits—remain a growing threat. Since the Adams administration began, over 1,400 ghost guns have been seized. Mayor Adams, together with other national leaders, has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold regulations mandating serial numbers and background checks for these weapons. “We know that there is always more work to be done. We will keep pressing for more — more officers, more safety, more results,” Adams affirmed.

District Attorneys from across the city echoed their support. Bronx DA Darcel D. Clark acknowledged, “These firearms were used to destroy lives and communities. It is sad that we continue to see so many guns in our city, but we will keep working together to remove them from the hands of criminals.”

Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez added, “The destruction of deadly weapons keeps them off our streets and out of the hands of people intent on causing harm.” Meanwhile, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg noted that between 2021 and 2024, shootings and homicides in his borough dropped by 45% and 20%, respectively.

Staten Island DA Michael McMahon praised the NYPD’s efforts: “With shooting incidents down nearly 20 percent across New York City this year, and an even steadier decrease in shooting victims here on Staten Island, law enforcement and our partners in government are finally seeing success in our battle against the scourge of gun violence.”

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. added a personal reflection: “I know the unimaginable pain of losing a close friend to gun violence, so I join with countless Queens residents in saying good riddance to these awful guns that have just been destroyed.”