New York law enforcement officials over the last six months have seized 662 illegal guns as efforts to curb the distribution of firearms flowing into the state have been stepped up this year. 

The number of guns taken off the street represents a 98% rise over the same time period between January and June a year ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday said. 

"We are aggressively ramping up our efforts to get deadly weapons -- including ghost guns -- off of our streets, and have developed hundreds of investigative leads spanning 22 states -- work resulting in the first discernible reduction in gun violence in more than two years," Hochul said. "While this is undeniable progress, our work is just getting started."

Hochul touted the gun seizures at the State Police's intelligence center in the Albany area, a day before state lawmakers will meet in an extraordinary session that is expected to include the approval of measures to restrict where and how guns can be carried outside of the home. 

The session is being held in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that eased the state's century-old concealed carry law. The Democratic-led Legislature is expected to take up bills restricting the carrying of guns at places where kids gather, educational institutions, schools, government buildings, polling locations and mass transit while also expanding requirements for licensing. 

The gun law changes come less than a month after lawmakers and Hochul agreed to a separate package of laws in response to mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo and a Texas elementary school, including an expansion of the state's "red flag" law meant to keep guns away from people deemed to be too dangerous. Lawmakers also agreed to require licenses for people to possess semiautomatic rifles, setting the age to do so at 21. 

But the effort to tackle the more common use of guns in everyday crimes has also continued.

Gun seizures outside of New York City, which include the State Police and other agencies, have increased 94% this year compared to 2020 and a 40% increase since 2021. State Police have also conducted 346 gun-tracing investigations and have forwarded leads to 22 states. 

The seizures of hard-to-trace ghost guns have also sharply increased, over the last several years, growing by 212% since 2020 and up 38% compared to the first six months of last year. 

"With substantial state investment in gun violence prevention programs and unprecedented collaboration between law enforcement agencies, we are beginning to see meaningful progress in our exhaustive efforts to eradicate gun violence from our communities," Hochul said.