NEWS
Albuquerque gun buyback nets more than 200 firearms
Those who turned over guns were given $100 to $250, depending on the type of weapon
One gun, two guns, three guns, four. Nickel-plated, iron sights and 鈥渨eapons of war.鈥
A variety of firearms were collected during a buyback event Saturday in Southeast Albuqeurque. In all, 225 guns were handed over for cash, according to New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence.
The Safe Surrender Gun Buyback event, held by NMPGV with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department, was the 27th organized by the group. The buyback ran from 9 a.m. to noon at APD鈥檚 University Substation 鈥 across from the Pit.
Those who handed over firearms were given $100 for rifles and shotguns, $200 for semiautomatic rifles and handguns and $250 for assault weapons. Free tickets to Albuquerque Isotopes and New Mexico 近距离内射合集 games were also handed out.
An APD spokesperson, in a news release, said four of the surrendered guns 鈥渨ere determined to be stolen and will be processed as evidence.鈥
NMPGV Executive Director Miranda Viscoli said the organization 鈥 which put up 100% of the funding 鈥 ran out of the $32,000 within an hour and a half. Then, she said, a NMPGV volunteer went to the bank to get $2,000 of their own money to keep the buyback going.
But, even after that money ran out, the guns kept coming.
鈥淚t was amazing,鈥 Viscoli said.
She said the last person to surrender a gun was a woman who pulled up with tears in her eyes. Viscoli said the woman told them, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care鈥 I don鈥檛 want the money. I need the gun out of my house.鈥
She said they heard many stories about why the guns were no longer wanted 鈥 from concerns about a suicidal family member or a relative with dementia to guns found at the park. For some, Viscoli said, the relief they had on their face 鈥渨as palpable.鈥
She said they collected 20 assault-style rifles, while the rest were semiautomatic rifles and handguns, bolt-action rifles and shotguns. Viscoli, who was in the middle of dropping off the dismantled firearms to 鈥渁n undisclosed location,鈥 said the guns would be made into gardening tools.
The disassembled weapons will be repurposed by local teens and children charged in gun crimes who are now in a diversion program, she said.
Viscoli said, while she would like to do a buyback in Albuquerque 鈥渆very month,鈥 funding restrictions will push the next event to Christmastime. She said NMPGV may hold buybacks in Las Cruces and Santa Fe sooner.
Viscoli said she has seen an attitude change in New Mexico since they started doing buybacks years ago 鈥 when there was a lot of negativity.
鈥淭he naysayers are starting to realize this is a good idea. It鈥檚 voluntary; it鈥檚 not anti-Second Amendment,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 that we have stayed the course and haven鈥檛 given up on it 鈥 helping people understand this is not an anti-gun initiative.鈥