Hochul Highlights Reduced Shootings in State Gun Violence Elimination Initiative Areas

The number of people killed in firearm homicides has nearly halved from this time last year.

Police officers help kids paint their hands to print on a police car at the Night Out Against Crime event in Middletown, N.Y., on Aug. 5, 2025. OliverMantyk/EpochTimes

MOUNT HOPE, N.Y.—Gov. Kathy Hochul celebrated the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative, which bolsters local policing, for lowering the number of shootings in the Mid-Hudson area and around New York.

The governor announced on May 20 that shootings in the state decreased in the first four months of 2026 from the same period in 2025. Data from the Division of Criminal Justice Services show that overall gun violence has decreased in communities using the GIVE program.