Attorney General James Announces 340 Guns Turned in at Johnson City 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

JOHNSON CITY – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that 340 firearms were turned in at a community gun buyback event hosted by her office and the Johnson City Police Department. This event — the largest gun buyback hosted by the Office of the Attorney General in the Southern Tier — 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 Johnson City 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 Johnson City homes and off the streets is a potential tragedy averted and another step in protecting communities throughout New York state.”

Guns recovered from Johnson City 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 340 guns collected from the Johnson City event, which included 25 assault rifles, 169 handguns, and 114 long guns. Altogether, Attorney General James has removed more than 7,000 guns from New York communities since taking office in 2019.

“We are happy to partner with Attorney General James on the unwanted gun buyback program,” said Johnson City Mayor Martin Meaney. “One of the many ways to curb gun violence is to reduce the number of guns that may become available to bad people. If we remove only one gun from the street that has the potential to fall into criminal hands, we win!”

“We are glad to help present this opportunity for community members to dispose of any unwanted firearms that might otherwise possibly fall into the wrong hands,” said Johnson City Police Chief Brent Dodge.

“I appreciate the partnership between Attorney General James, our municipal leaders, and local police departments to keep firearms from getting into the wrong hands,” said Broome County Executive Jason Garnar. “These efforts not only make our neighborhoods safer for residents, but they also protect our police and other first responders when they answer an emergency call.”

“I want to thank Attorney General James for conducting another gun buyback program in our community,” said Assemblymember Donna Lupardo. “Removing unwanted guns off the streets is a commonsense approach to public safety, one that is always well attended. I’d also like to thank the Johnson City Police Department and the Johnson City Senior Center for hosting this very important event.”

“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.”