As New York Mayor Eric Adams enters the final days of his time in office, he and his allies are touting his accomplishments over the past few years. That includes the number of firearms seized by the NYPD since Adams took office nearly four years ago.
Over the past four years, the NYPD has taken more than 25,000 guns off the streets, including more than 5,000 guns in 2025 alone.
— Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) December 29, 2025
These are more than just numbers — this work has helped drive shooting incidents and victims to the lowest levels in recorded history. https://t.co/4QXizzrl9Q
Tisch is ignoring the fact that violent crime is plunging across the country, not just in New York City but in gun-friendly locales as well. Murders have declined by almost 21% in the Big Apple this year, but cities like Birmingham, Memphis, Dallas, Indianapolis, Nashville, and Phoenix (all located in Constitutional Carry states) have seen even bigger declines according to criminologist Jeff Asher.
There's something else that Tisch is ignoring, or at least doesn't want to talk about: the number of New York residents who've applied for and received their NYC carry permit this year. The NYPD keeps that information close to the vest, but it sure looks like the number of guns seized is far higher than the number of permits that have been issued.
Tisch says that more than 25,000 firearms have been "taken off the streets" since December, 2021. How many concealed carry permits have been issued over that same time period? The NYPD hasn't released that information, but we can make an educated guess and a pretty good estimate.
According to this 2023 story, the NYPD approved a total of 2,591 carry permit applications in 2021. Last month The Trace reported that about 17,000 permits have been issued since the Bruen decision, which came down in June, 2022. That's a total of 19,591 permits, but that doesn't account for the first six months of 2022. Assuming the approval rate was roughly the same as it was in 2021, that would add another 1,300 or so permits, bringing the total to 20,891 permits.
That's a rough estimate, and the number could conceivably be a little lower or higher, but I don't think it would come close to 25,000.
That means that nearly four years after the city's "may issue" concealed carry regime was struck down, it's still more common for people to illegally possess a firearm than to be able to legally carry a gun.
I suppose that shouldn't be too surprising. It's much easier to illegally get ahold of a gun than to go through the lengthy process of getting approved for a premises or carry permit. Teenagers, even those in this country illegally, are able to get their hands on a pistol in New York City by accessing the illicit market, and unlike New Yorkers who want to legally possess a firearm they don't have to submit to a background check, provide character references, or wait for months on end to receive permission.
Things aren't likely to get any better once Adams is out of office. Zohran Mamdani has previously called for an end to gun ownership altogether, so I don't see him adding staff to the NYPD Licensing Division or reducing the high cost of applying for a carry permit to make the right to bear arms more accessible to the average New Yorker.
There are ongoing legal challenges to the NYPD's permitting process, and the DOJ could take an interest in the excessive fees and lengthy wait times as well. Relief is going to have to come through the courts, because the commie soon to occupy City Hall and the anti-gunners on the City Council aren't going to lift a finger to help New Yorkers access their Second Amendment rights.
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