Case Explained: Gov. Hochul, Sean Ryan say crime has dropped in Buffalo – Legal Perspective

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Gov. Kathy Hochul said keeping people safe has always been and continues to be her top priority in a press conference Thursday alongside Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan.

Now, even with crime rates dropping, Hochul is working to address a new threat, 3D printed guns.

“We are going to pass a law I just introduced that require all 3D printers to include software that blocks the printer from creating a gun,” said Hochul. “We outlawed 3D printed guns, now we’re saying any 3D printer sold in the state of New York must have software that blocks the capability to even create these deadly machines.”

Hochul highlighted several investments into the City of Buffalo’s initiatives to combat crime, reflecting on last year’s visit to the Buffalo Police Department’s C-District at a time when retail and car theft were at an all-time high.

“Buffalo and our upstate communities had some of the highest numbers of car thefts in the nation,” said Hochul. “Everywhere was facing a real crisis of crime and violence, and the numbers were heading up exponentially in a very frightening way.”

Hochul said the tail end of the pandemic played a large role in the rising crime rates just a few years ago. “It just seemed like the wheels came off,” she said.

“There were so many more crimes … I feel like people felt no restraints on civil order, and as a result, people were afraid,” Hochul added. She said shootings in Buffalo had nearly doubled from the past two years following the pandemic.

“These are my neighbors, this is something that was personal to me,” she said.

In a response to lower crime rates, Hochul said she enacted the strictest gun laws in the country.

“We had very tough gun laws, but we found some gaps, we found that we could do more on the red flag laws,” she said.

She called for “common-sense” legal reforms during Thursday’s press conference.

“Our job was to keep repeat offenders off the streets and not make it harder for judges to prevent that from happening,” she said.

Hochul noted significant resources allocated from the state toward Erie County through the Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative, a program that provides state funding to local law enforcement agencies, including the Buffalo Police Department, for equipment, overtime, personnel and more resources.

“The money that the governor has put together through the GIVE program, the Gun Involved Violence Elimination Program, that’s a straight line,” said Ryan.

She highlighted investments in community based violence prevention programs, including Buffalo SNUG.

“It’s all about crime prevention, which is making a profound difference,” said Hochul.

She said she continues to invest more funds to combat gun violence across the state.

“We compare 2025 with 2021, when I first took office, shootings with injury in Buffalo are down 67 percent,” she said. “Violent crime is down 20 percent. Murders are down 55 percent, and in 2025 they hit a 10-year low.”

Ryan said the governor’s legislative package introduced this year aims to ensure that illegal guns stay off the streets.

“In Buffalo, since 2021, shootings are down by two-thirds, gun deaths are down by two-thirds this year compared to last year,” said Ryan. “In January we had 11 shootings, this January we have three.”

“It doesn’t stop when we get the good numbers,” Ryan continued. “In order to keep those numbers where we want them to, we have to keep this effort going.”

Latest Local News

Gabriella Baiano has been a digital producer with WIVB since November 2025. View more of her work here.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.