An AK pistol. An AR-15 assault rifle. And a “Street Sweeper” shotgun.
Those were three of the 73 guns police recovered in 2014’s first gun buyback event Saturday.
With the help of an $8,000 grant from Yale-New Haven Hospital, the city gave away $75 and $150 gift cards to people who dropped off guns Saturday at the New Haven police academy on Sherman Avenue.
Police will hold a second buyback on Saturday July 12 at Radio Amor at 261 Portsea St.
In other police news, according to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman:
Shot In The Foot: On Sunday, the day after the gun buyback event, a man showed up at the hospital after he was shot in the foot. The 21-year-old told police he’d been shot during an attempted robbery. Police found no evidence of any such robbery.
Bank Robbery: Robbers hit the First Niagara Bank on Fountain Street in Westville Friday — the second robbery there in little over a month.
Two masked gunman entered the bank and demanded money from tellers. They made off in a white Toyota Corolla, with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Robbers hit the same bank branch on May 23. Police have no evidence that the incidents are related.
I'd certainly like to see less violence and crime on our street but this is a PR stunt.
If I''m one of the 'bad guys', this certainly doesn't entice me to hand in a weapon. In fact, it might entice 'bad guys' to rob those who have some weapons - keep the good ones to use and turn in the rest at the next buy back.
Very out of touch with the real world.