Council members Rafael Salamanca Jr. and Carlina Rivera plan to introduce a bill to the City Council on Thursday that would require the NYPD to lead a citywide monthly effort to get guns off the street. 

The bill would make incentivized NYPD gun buyback programs mandatory each month in every borough. It would also require that the compensation for those handing over firearms would come directly out of the NYPD budget. 

The NYPD says 7,135 guns were seized citywide last year, but they don’t include what number of those come from previous gun buyback programs.  

The City Council members want their community to know that they can hand over guns without fear of prosecution or questioning, and that they’re guaranteed a cash or gift card reward. 

“We need to ensure that we are providing the proper programs and resources to our communities so that we can try to take as many guns as we can off of our streets,” said Salamanca. “Getting even one gun off the streets can be saving many lives. 

Rivera says she wants to also implement a future campaign to educate New Yorkers on the benefits of the buyback programs and to connect with people who return firearms.