Police are pictured near Cowden Place in Jamestown after a shooting in early February. P-J file photo by Eric Tichy

In just over three months, more than two dozen illegally-possessed firearms have been seized in the city by local police. Oftentimes, the weapons are loaded and, in some cases, have been used in drive-by incidents.

“We, as an agency, are running into more loaded firearms than we have in years past,” said Capt. Robert Samuelson of the Jamestown Police Department. “We are continuing to aggressively combat this … working with local and state and federal partners.”

Through April 8 of this year, officers have come across 26 illegal firearms — some via traffic stops and others during ongoing investigations that Samuelson said routinely involve narcotics.

“For most of the guns, there’s a drug connection,” he told The Post-Journal. “It’s not unusual to find drugs, for there to be arguments over drugs or the sale of drugs for weapons to be involved.”

For the first three months of 2021, the Jamestown Police Department reported 50 incidents involving guns. However, many came from a single case and involved other agencies including the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force and Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force. Outside that case, about 15 gun incidents were recorded through the first week of April last year.

Notable incidents this year in the city involving firearms:

¯ Two loaded pistols were recovered after gunshots were exchanged between vehicles March 22 in the area of West Sixth and Jefferson streets. One of the vehicles believed to be involved was later located on Summit Avenue with a “bullet hole in its hood,” the Jamestown Police Department said at the time.

Three men were taken into custody following the shooting, two of whom — 21-year-old Joel Coleman and 23-year-old Allen Jackson — were already facing weapons possession charges stemming from a February traffic stop.

¯ A man was shot in the back the evening of Feb. 8 during what was described as a possible “home invasion robbery” at a North Cowden Place residence. The victim was airlifted to UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pa., and later released.

¯ Non-life-threatening injuries were reported when a man was shot Feb. 13 during a large gathering at a Cherry Street business. The man, who reportedly suffered gunshot wounds to his “lower extremities,” was taken to UPMC Chautauqua and later transferred to UPMC Hamot, police said at the time.

“We’re definitely seeing more guns, and shootings have been more frequent,” Samuelson said. “We’re trying to make this community safer. We’re working 24 hours a day.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul last week said 1,753 firearms had been recovered from New York streets since convening the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns. The task force includes several agencies in nine states and is intended to stem the flow of illegal weapons crossing state lines.

“We know that we have strength in numbers, and the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns brings together the largest regional police consortium that has ever been assembled to fight this national phenomenon of gun violence,” Hochul said. “I am proud to announce that the Task Force is already delivering results, with New York State Police, New York City Police Department and our local police agencies having removed over 1,700 guns off the streets over the last three months.”

From January through March, Hochul said the New York State Police has doubled the guns seized and increased the number of gun tracing investigations by 75%.