Buffalo police make 20 gun-related arrests

The department this week announced 20 related arrests between June 1 and June 13, with a total of 18 weapons recovered by police.

“We make gun arrests every day, and there are a lot of guns on the street,” Gramaglia told the Buffalo News. “I think the public needs to know what our police department is doing, how many guns they are taking off the streets and how many arrests are being made.”

Buffalo police have recovered more than 260 illegal handguns this year as of the end of May.

“We’re ahead of last year’s pace, and we’re ahead of last two years’ pace,” Gramaglia said.

“I’ve said this time and time again: The more gun arrests we make, if we get surges where we get more gun arrests in a short period of time, then that means that “There are more guns flooding our community at this time,” he said. said.

The reality, he added, “is that there are a significant amount of illegally owned firearms, which means people either don’t have licenses or are prohibited persons or have a prior felony conviction, which prohibits them from possessing a firearm.”

The commissioner credited “strong police work between patrol officers and detectives for the daily firearms arrests. Officers were strategic in serving search warrants for those subject to a investigates various crimes that often involve the use of firearms, he said.

“We’ve recovered a few more ghost guns over the last couple of weeks, Gramaglia said. “We’ve actually seen the number of ghost gun seizures decline from their peak in 2022.”

Professionally manufactured guns, like Glock pistols, typically account for the largest number of guns confiscated by Buffalo police and arrests made by them.

“It’s a popular gun, and the sad reality is that the Glock is very easily converted to a fully automatic weapon,” Gramaglia said.

Illegal weapons confiscated included:

• Three loaded ghost guns, one in the 1400 block of South Park Avenue, another at Genesee and Barthel streets and a third, .40 caliber Glock style, on Bensen Avenue in West Seneca.

• Two loaded Glocks, one on Isabelle Street, another in the 1200 block of Niagara Street.

• Two loaded Sig Sauers, one in the 1300 block of West Avenue, another at Genesee and Ivy streets.

• A loaded Jimenez Arms .380 automatic pistol at the Peace Bridge.

• A loaded Springfield Arms XDS in the 1300 block of Jefferson Avenue.

• A loaded TriStar NKC-MO 12-gauge shotgun in the 1400 block of Fillmore Avenue.

• A loaded Canik TP9 in the 300 block of Linwood Avenue.

• A loaded Smith & Wesson SD 40 in the 600 block of Starin Avenue.

• Kel-Tec SUB-2000 and Springfield Arms MP9 Shield cannons at Hamilton and Dearborn streets.

• An SCCY gun in the 300 block of Smith Street.

• A Bryco Arms 38 in the first block of Zelmer Street.

• A loaded Ruger LCP A in the 100 block of Domedion Avenue.

All 20 defendants were charged with illegal possession of firearms and most were held on $80,000 bail, police said.

“They get these guns from somewhere,” Gramaglia said of those who own illegal guns in the area. “And there’s a multitude of ways: straw purchases where someone goes to another state where gun laws are lax, or they might go to a gun show and buy a dozen or two dozen guns and then illegally transport them across the state line to New York and they sell them.

“We also sometimes see guns left in stolen cars or during burglaries,” he added, “but in reality I think the main way these guns come into our community is from other states through straw.