This data includes counts of firearms by type seized by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. Each row describes a seizure incident involving one or more firearms.

Firearm seizures can occur for several reasons. One of the Bureau of Police justifications for seizing a firearm involves a suspicion that a firearm was used in a criminal offense. Seizures may also occur to protect officer or public safety. For example, a weapon held by someone involved in a serious medical emergency, or an unattended weapon found in a public space may be seized and held for safekeeping.

The Bureau’s firearms tracking unit conducts investigations to determine the rightful owner of firearms that have been seized. Where possible, the Bureau makes every effort to return firearms that have been seized to their rightful owners.

Firearms seized by non-City of Pittsburgh law enforcement agencies within the City of Pittsburgh may not be included in this data. Federal, State, County, and other special law enforcement agencies (e.g. campus, transit, hospital, etc.) operate within the City limits.

Data collected through supplemental reports filled out by Pittsburgh Bureau of Police officers upon taking possession of a firearm.

Locations where the seizure occurred are anonymized to the address block or nearest intersection. It's not always possible to geocode these anonymized addresses. In cases where geocoding fails, the latitude and longitude fields are left empty. These will display as "None" in table views on the WPRDC site.

Exact date and report numbers have been removed to protect the privacy of individuals and any active investigations.