New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Friday, Sept. 17, that 57 firearms were turned in to law enforcement at a gun buyback event hosted by her office, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, Westchester District Attorney Miriam Rocah and the New Rochelle Police Department.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) accepts—with no questions asked—working and non-working, unloaded firearms in exchange for compensation on site. To date, Attorney General James has taken more than 2,100 firearms out of communities through gun buyback events and other efforts since taking office in 2019.
“The threat of gun violence continues to loom over our neighborhoods and endanger our families and children,” said Attorney General James. “From taking down violent groups responsible for causing harm to hosting gun buybacks and working with organizations addressing this crisis — we are doing everything we can to eradicate gun violence and protect our communities in Westchester and throughout the state. My office is fully committed to preserving public safety, and we thank our partners for their invaluable support and shared commitment in this effort.”
“Thank you to Attorney General Letitia James for once again showing her commitment to keeping our streets safe,” said Westchester County Executive George Latimer. “Since 2017 in Westchester County, we have seen a decrease in index crimes by 11 percent and an increase in weapons secured by our county police by 370 percent. Programs like this gun buyback, coupled with the hard work of our men and women in law enforcement, result in fewer lives lost due to senseless gun violence. I look forward to future collaborations, like this one, to further ensure the safety of all Westchester residents.”
“Every gun that was brought in today will make our communities safer,” said Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah. “Allowing people to safely remove unwanted guns from their homes can help reduce many of the risks associated with having a firearm, including suicide, domestic violence, and unintentional deaths of children. It will also help prevent these guns from falling into the wrong hands and making our streets less safe. We thank New York Attorney General James, the County Executive, and the New Rochelle Police Department for partnering with us on this essential public safety initiative.”
“We are hopeful that the gun buyback program will have an impact on violent crime in New Rochelle,” said New Rochelle Police Commissioner Robert Gazzola. “We know that collecting unwanted guns will be beneficial to our community.” Today’s community gun buyback resulted in 57 guns being collected, including 25 handguns, 29 shotguns and rifles, two assault rifles, and a non-working gun. Since 2013, OAG has hosted gun buyback events throughout New York
state and has successfully collected nearly 4,100 firearms.
In exchange for the firearms, OAG also offered monetary compensation, in the form of prepaid gift cards, and Apple iPads when an unloaded gun was received
and secured by an officer on site. “Thank you, Attorney General James, Westchester County District Attorney Rocah, and the city of New Rochelle Police Department for providing a safe, no-questions-asked method to reduce the number of guns in our communities,” said state Assemblywoman Amy Paulin.
“We need to do everything we can to stem our nation’s gun violence epidemic. This program is a proactive way to get guns off of our streets and in turn protect
the health and safety of our residents.”
“I commend New York Attorney General Letitia James for bringing this most important event to Westchester County,” said State Assembly member J. Gary Pretlow. “Allowing the public to turn in firearms to government agencies on a no questions asked basis undoubtedly has in impact on reducing the number of lethal weapons in the community and in turn, decreasing violent crimes that plague many of our cities and towns.”
“Gun violence leads to tragedy and loss of life. Gun buyback programs are a vital tool to remove guns from circulation and have the support of state government
and the legislature,” said state Assemblyman Steve Otis. “These programs save lives. New Rochelle appreciates Attorney General James, District Attorney
Rocah, and the New Rochelle Police Department for bringing this program to our community.” Gun violence is a public health crisis that is plaguing communities throughout New York, and today’s event is the latest action that Attorney General James has taken to combat this crisis and protect New Yorkers from harm.
This year alone, Attorney General James has held 12 gun buybacks across the state, and has also secured dozens of dangerous firearms through takedowns of violent groups terrorizing New York. To date, Attorney General James has taken a total of more than 2,100 guns out of communities since 2019.
(Submitted)
