Allan Appel Photo
New Haven has 64 fewer guns to worry about — including one less Bushmaster .223.
That Bushmaster .223”>Bushmaster— the same model of rifle used to murder 20 schoolchildren in Newtown — and 63 other lethal weapons were turned in Saturday afternoon in a local gun buy-back. The event was sparked by the Newtown massacre.
The day-long event was run by the police department at its training academy on Sherman Parkway. It was staffed by officers and employees of the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital who are part of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of New Haven.
Police spokesman David Hartman said the buy-back’s 64-weapon harvest ties the police department buy-back record, including one that was held on Dec. 1, which was national gun buy-back day.
New Haven and Bridgeport decided to mount a second buy-back on Saturday in the wake of the Newtown shootings, Hartman said. A third one will be held on Saturday December 29th, also between 10. a.m. and 4 p.m.
Click here for the details and the rules on the “no questions asked” buy-back.
The buy-back harvest included this Italian-made rifle, a cousin to the one the Warren Commission determined was used in the JFK assassination.
Hartman called the day “hugely successful,” especially with the receipt of five assault rifles. Gift certificates for $50 were given for each operable hand gun, and $100 for rifles. All the gift certificates came in the form of American Express cards, not cards from specific stores as in years gone by.
By terms of the anonymous buy-back, Hartman could not give details about the source of any of the transactions, including the .223 Bushmaster. He did say that when that weapon was walked into the academy, officers did ooh and ahh to see a gun of such notoriety and infamy.
The guns ranged from assault weapons with their clips to the rusty to the almost antique. (Actual antiques were not accepted.) All had the capacity to kill people.
The people who came in with guns Saturday reflected the whole range of the population of New Haven, Hartman said. He added that most of the guns were registered and legally owned. Many were worth less than $50; to get the money in this efficient manner, without having to sell the gun and deal with paperwork, was appealing.
“Thugs aren’t walking in here,” he said of the people who showed up.
He said several people who came in did so sparked by the news of the Newtown massacre. The weapons were likely locked and stored before; but they might have been stolen and used in burglaries or end up on the street, Hartman noted.
Hartman said that the guns, which were arrayed in individual boxes with the details of the weapon written in large letters, could have become the ones “that bad guys are carrying next year.” If the buy-back saves one life or contributes to one less shooting incident, the buy-back will have been successful, he said.
Faith Restored
Hartman said that two moments stood out for him during the six hours of receiving the weapons.
Two women, whom Hartman described as “silver-haired,” came in and turned in guns. When they did, they marveled at the weapons arrayed on the tables at the academy. That was because both had worked as young women manufacturing clips at the local Marlin Firearms Company.
Earlier in the day an older “gentleman” came in direct from the hospital, said Hartman and Pina Volano, who coordinated the buy-back for the coalition.
He had left his wife’s side at the hospital to present the coalition with a $50 gift certificate for Stop & Shop to benefit the buy-back. The man told Volano and Hartman that he had not wanted to leave his wife but she insisted. As soon as he presented the certificate, he went directly back to the hospital.
“It was a faith-reaffirming moment,” Hartman said.
Police plan next to destroy the guns. But if any catch officers’ eyes as potentially having been involved in shootings in New Haven, they will be first sent to forensics.
Gun buyback programs have been largely ineffective because most of the people who turn in their old guns use the buyback money to buy newer, more lethal ones.