Attorney General James Announces 265 Guns Turned in at Plattsburgh Gun Buyback and More Than 3,000 Guns Turned In Throughout New York State

Including Today’s Landmark Event, AG James Has Taken More Than 7,000 Firearms Out of New York Communities Since 2019

PLATTSBURGH – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that 265 firearms were turned in at a community gun buyback event hosted by her office, the Plattsburgh Police Department, and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office. This event — the largest gun buyback hosted by the Office of the Attorney General in the North Country — was part of Attorney General James’ historic effort to hold nine simultaneous gun buyback events on the same day in communities throughout the state. Including the guns turned in at the Plattsburgh event, Attorney General James secured more than 3,000 guns today alone from across the state. To date, Attorney General James has removed more than 7,000 guns from New York communities since taking office in 2019.

“Gun violence has caused so many avoidable tragedies and robbed us of so many innocent New Yorkers,” said Attorney General James. “Through our partnership with local law enforcement and public officials, we were able to organize this historic, single-day gun buyback event in nine locations throughout New York state. Every gun that we removed out of Plattsburgh homes and off the streets is a potential tragedy averted and another step in protecting communities throughout New York state.”

Guns recovered from Plattsburgh Gun Buyback on Statewide Gun Buyback Day

Today’s statewide gun buyback resulted in the collection of more than 3,000 guns, including 185 assault rifles, 1,656 handguns, and 823 long guns. These figures include the 265 guns collected from the Plattsburgh event, which included 15 assault rifles, 162 handguns, and 59 long guns. Altogether, Attorney General James has removed more than 7,000 guns from New York communities since taking office in 2019.

“To all residents of Clinton County please take advantage of this wonderful and safe way to properly remove unwanted weapons from your possession,” said Clinton County Sheriff David Favro. “Unwanted weapons can fall into the wrong hands and create serious risk for our community. This is NOT an effort to impede on anyone’s second amendment rights it is a joint agency effort to continue to keep Clinton County safe for all residents and guests.”

“We applaud Attorney General Letitia James for continuing to take proactive steps to keep our communities safe,” said Shari Maurer, Volunteer, New York Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “New York is demonstrating its ongoing commitment to a multi-faceted approach to saving lives and we look forward to continuing to partner with her office and lawmakers to keep New York a national leader in the gun safety movement.”

“New York continues to be a national leader in smart, effective gun laws. And as a result, it has one of the lowest gun death rates in the country — 63% below the national average,” said David Pucino, Deputy Chief Counsel, Giffords Law Center. “Attorney General James's leadership has been critical to New York's success in fighting gun violence, but there is more work to do. This weekend’s buyback will get more potentially dangerous guns off the streets. And while we can never know whose lives will be saved by this initiative, we know fewer families will be victimized by gun violence. Thank you to everyone who made this happen.”