March 27, 2025
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace released the following statement in response to yesterday's decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Bondi v. VanDerStok:
"I commend the U.S. Supreme Court for its decision to uphold federal restrictions on the sale of so-called ‘ghost guns.’ These untraceable, DIY firearms are turning up at crime scenes across the country—an alarming trend that law enforcement must be permitted to combat with every tool at their disposal.
"As noted by the court, law enforcement agencies across the U.S. have reported a 1,088% increase in ghost gun recoveries from 2017 to 2021.
"In Westchester alone, police departments reported recovering at least 12 ghost guns incident to a criminal investigation, double the number of recoveries from the year prior.
"Despite New York’s strict gun safety regulations, weapons from out of state are frequently trafficked into our neighborhoods, bypassing our state’s legal process entirely.
"While areas historically plagued by gun violence, such as Yonkers and Mount Vernon, have made important progress in recent years, the possibility of easy-to-access, DIY firearms threatens to undo much of this success.
"The Supreme Court’s decision represents a victory for gun safety, but it is only a starting point for the fight we have been waging, and will continue to wage, against the scourge of illegal guns."
