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Buyback Program Takes 162 Weapons Off the Street
Tags: court house
COURT HOUSE –– Local law enforcement officials declared a recent “gun buyback” program a success after taking more than 150 weapons off the street.
County Prosecutor Robert Taylor, in conjunction with Lower Township Police Chief William Donahue, Wildwood Police Chief Steven Long, Middle Township Police Chief Joseph Evangelista and New Jersey State Police Woodbine Station Commander Robert Watkins, announced the successful conclusion of the month-long program in a press release April 28.
Throughout the month of April, representatives from the Prosecutors Office worked with members of the police departments, taking possession of weapons turned in by citizens for cash.
President Felicia Smith and members of the county Human Relations Commission were also present to show their support.
According to the release, Taylor supported the idea of this program when the request was made last fall by the commission.
The planning of the project was ongoing and has been a cooperative effort by each department and organization involved.
At the conclusion of the program, members of the public surrendered 162 weapons, mostly handguns.
Also collected were two sawed-off shotguns one assault weapon. The assault weapon was further described as a 7.62 mm Chinese made rifle with a 30 round magazine.
Members of the public were given cash for each weapon. The buyback rate was $25 for shotguns and rifles, $50 for handguns and $100 for assault weapons. At the conclusion of the program, a total of $5,900 was distributed.
Citizens were also encouraged to turn over ammunition and pellet guns for no compensation.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the funds used were seized from drug dealers, so no taxpayer money was involved.
Taylor wanted to thank all the participants who made this program so successful, especially the public who showed their overwhelming support.
This program embraced the idea of law enforcement and community working together. Taylor stated that this effort enhances safety by getting guns out of homes where they are not wanted.
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Comments (9)
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Mon, 05/05/2008 - 3:52pm - Posted by: Anonymous
I'm sorry you were the victim of a home invasion. I hope you made out ok and didn't get hurt too bad.
Mon, 05/05/2008 - 12:39pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Ok you say that you are not brainwashed but yet your post reads like a speech given at an NRA meeting. I have been the victim of a home invasion and am very far from naive about life but I refuse to let the things that I have seen make me so afraid of life that I have to arm myself and put myself in that kind of mentality. The scenario you described is a sad and true one and those kind of things do happen but it is not an every day occurrence. We can't let the worse case scenario be a guide for our lives. I don't live in a gated community, I live in a pretty crazy neighborhood actually, sireans and flashing lights fly by my house several times a day but I refuse to be controlled by fear.
Look around us people everyone is pointing a weapon at each other, our nations and are people. We are slipping back into the dark ages. Fear is controlling us and instead of getting educated on the facts we take comfort in a gun. Honestly, other then extreme cases like what happened in New Orleans, when is the last time you read a news story about someone getting the jump on a home invader. Oh wait I did just read one, teenager hid and called her mom, who called 911, then the police came and did what our taxes pay them to do. You have to work with the system for the system for the system to work. Instead we all fight against it and then complain.
Sun, 05/04/2008 - 3:39pm - Posted by: Anonymous
In reference to Saturday 11:55am.
I am not brainwashed, nor am I a vigalante. Martial arts, self defense lessons or security systems do not guarantee safety and neither does a gun. They only give one a fighting chance. If you do not know victims of home invasion, or been in a disaster situation where looters are in your subdivision, with no electricity or communications, and you haven't seen a police car in 3 days, then you may not have had to come to grips with reality as I have. Guns are just another tool for self defense as is a fire extinguisher is in your home. The fear of guns and weapons, known as "Hoplophobia" is a criminals best friend. Do you really think criminals care how many gun control laws are passed? They love gun control laws! Go on depending on police and the walls around your gated community. I stand by what I said earlier and I hope you never find yourself in a situation where your naivete about lifes realities cost you a lot more than your property.
Sat, 05/03/2008 - 12:55pm - Posted by: Anonymous
In reference to the comment made on Thru 8:18, it is this type of barbaric thinking that keeps us right here in the grip of fear that we are today.
Kill or be killed, get them before they get you, make sure your ready to help the cops take out the bad guy, it's this type of vigilantly mentality that keeps the system from working.
You talk about brain washing, it is you and your type that are guilty of brain washing. Our leading politicians are afraid to even speak of gun control, not because of the actual issue but because of all of the money behind the industry. If you so desperately feel the need to protect yourself, then go do something pro-active, learn martial arts, take a self defense class, install a security system. Don't hide behind a gun, look what that message is doing to our country. Low self esteem and gun is a plague on this nation.
Thu, 05/01/2008 - 10:48pm - Posted by: Anonymous
I think it was a great idea. Maybe those guns were unwanted by the person who had them, but better they sell it and get it off the strets than sell it to someone who will USE IT on the street.
Thu, 05/01/2008 - 9:18am - Posted by: Anonymous
It's a sad commentary on firearms education in New Jersey whereby people are afraid that inanimate objects in their homes are going to somehow bite or attack them all on their own. Why else would they be unwanted? People have been brainwashed into believing that guns alone are the problem. It's cheaper to run "gun buy" programs and make more gun laws than to actually go out and tackle the criminal element directly. It's great PR. But that's all it is. In states and communities that encourage their citizens to keep firearms in their homes for self protection crime goes down. Kennesaw GA is a fine example.
Beleive me when I say: When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. People need to take personal responsibility for their own safety. Many people are afraid to realize this and live in a fools paradise. Hopefully it won't come back to bite them!
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 12:59pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Was the 7.62 mm Chinese made rifle yours?? Did someone swipe it and turn it in for cash? Is that what you are so sore about?
Tue, 04/29/2008 - 9:19pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Does turning a gun in for money count as a job for the locals in the winter
Tue, 04/29/2008 - 5:11pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Garbage. The number of "guns on the street" has been repeatedly shown to have no corelation to the amount of crime commited with guns. The number of crimes committed with guns is actually inversely proportional to the number of guns available. Note that the worst gun crime statistics in the USA are in those jurisdictions with the most draconian gun laws: Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Washington D. C. just to name a few. When politicians begin lining up for photo-op pieces to extoll how many bad guys they have taken off the street we will begin to see some improvement in gun related crime stats and not before.