Close to 700 guns collected in buyback initiative

Close to 700 guns were collected at churches around Brooklyn this weekend as part of a buyback initiative designed to get weapons off the streets. Over the course of six hours on Saturday, police collected

News 12 Staff

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Jul 21, 2008, 10:32 PM

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Updated 6,001 days ago

Close to 700 guns were collected at churches around Brooklyn this weekend as part of a buyback initiative designed to get weapons off the streets.

Over the course of six hours on Saturday, police collected 697 weapons at six churches. Each was turned in anonymously in exchange for debit cards worth up to $200.

While there was an impressive cache of weapons collected, it was less than the NYPD and district attorney had budgeted for. $300,000 was set aside for the program, but less than half of that was claimed.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says now that the guns have been catalogued, they will be melted down and the materials will be used to make hangars for dry cleaning facilities.

Saturday?s drive was part of a continuing NYPD program in which anyone can bring a gun to a police precinct and receive $100 throughout the year.

Brooklynchurches to receive weapons