Mayor Eric Adams touted on Wednesday that over the course of his administration, the NYPD has taken some 20,000 illegal guns off the streets of the city as he heads into reelection season.
Standing alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the pair looked over a lineup of three tables inside East Harlem’s 20th Precinct adorned with firearms. From small handguns to rifles and shotguns, the armaments appeared to range in size and span several decades.
For Adams and Tisch, these represented trophies of a war on crime that Adams charges he has been leading the fight against like few other mayors have — something that also comes as Hizzoner prepares to seek reelection this year.
“That’s 20,000 weapons that no longer can threaten the safety of New Yorkers and our neighborhoods, our families and our children, 20,000 fewer chances that a New Yorker is shot or killed,” Adams told a room full of reporters. “This is a major milestone for our City and a clear shift in the right direction, where we’ve also taken 3,000 more guns — 3,000 more guns from 2022 through 2024, the previous three years.”
According to Adams, the police department also recovered some 1,400 ghost guns throughout his administration. These weapons can be 3D-printed from any location and are difficult for law enforcement to trace since they are manufactured out of plastic and without serial numbers.
“There have been a number of incidents where parents did not know that the printers located in the rooms of their children were actually producing guns. So, this has placed a new dynamic upon the challenge of fighting ghost guns,” Mayor Adams told amNewYork Metro, lifting up a handgun. “This is printed by a 3D printer.”
Police officials also charged that it is not just the public at risk from the proliferation of illegal firearms. Commissioner Tisch pointed out that among the 20,000 guns recovered is the one that killed Officer Jonathan Diller in 2024. Diller, who was posthumously promoted to Detective, was performing a traffic stop near 19-19 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway when he was shot in the stomach on March 25. He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he could not be saved.
“One of the 20,000 guns seized was the one that senselessly ended Detective Diller’s life. It was in the hands of a career criminal who was already out on a gun charge. That’s why I am adamant that removing guns is only part of the equation,” Tisch said.
Kcassman