With 28% drop in shootings, Hochul adds $36 million to local police budgets

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Compared to last year, shootings that resulted in injuries declined by 28% from January to May, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Her office reported the statistic backed up by data from police departments in the state's Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative.

That 28% represents 218 shootings in the first five months of 2024, against 303 shootings over the same period in 2023. The police data adds that the number of shooting victims dropped 24%, from 360 victims in January-May 2023 to 272 victims in January-May 2024.

"Even with crime trending down, we fought to maintain unprecedented funding levels for gun violence prevention in our most recent budget," Hochul said while highlighting these numbers. "For the second straight year, we're investing $36 more million in the GIVE program that'll support 28 more agencies across New York."

Hochul's office said the record-level funding—$36,199,999—will combat violent crime and save lives. Minus $262,089 available as needed as issues arise, check out the breakdown by county:

SafeHome.org also released recent gun control statistics. They said that, despite gun sales growing by about 20% nationwide in the past ten years, sales decreased 4% between 2022 and 2023. And over that single year in New York, they said gun sales dropped 15%, among the biggest drops in the country. Only D.C., Delaware, and Louisiana did as well or better.

Not only did the Empire State have among the biggest drops in sales, we also had among the lowest total gun sales. Only New Jersey, Nebraska, and, again, D.C. had similarly low numbers in 2023. The report from SafeHome.org said that Texas, Florida, and California sold the most guns, while people from Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska bought guns at about seven times the rate as people from New York.

Safehome.org called out highly publicized incidents of gun violence and the increased red-flag laws, background checks, and advocacy for contributing to lower numbers in New York. They said that in 2023, 226 guns were sold for every 10,000 New Yorkers over the age of 21. And so far in 2024, New Yorkers bought roughly 106,651 guns, they said.

State police also seized 973 guns so far in 2024, and Hochul said she thinks they'll pass last year's total of 1,463.

S4598A/A4917D—passed in both houses of the legislature—represents another gun safety measure in New York. It funds anti-violence education in schools.