CLEVELAND – Police officers typically go to a scene to fight crime, but on Saturday, crime prevention came to them.
The City of Cleveland’s annual gun buy-back program collected 352 firearms, which is 43 more than what they got last year.
In exchange, people were given $100 dollar gift cards to select grocery stores or gas stations. They also got tickets to sports games and were entered in a drawing to win $1,000.
“A lot of people just want to get a weapon out of their home and safely disposed,” said Sgt. Sammy Morris, Public Information Officer for Cleveland Police.
The program draws hundreds of people each year, and a couple hours after they started Saturday morning, police gave away all of the cash prizes.
Some people decided to keep their guns, in hopes of making cash on the buy-back program in the future.
However, Solon resident Charles Janco said that wouldn’t keep him from turning his gun over to police. Janco purchased a handgun years ago. Now, with a wife and young kids, he’d like to remove the weapon from their home – and make sure it won’t get in the hands of the wrong people.
The guns are being melted down and recycled by ArcelorMittal, a partner in the Gun Buy-Back.
“It’s definitely the best part of the program,” Janco said. “These weapons don’t get recycled into the city. They’re not re-sold. They’re actually destroyed, so they can’t be used in a crime.”
“This program is so important to have because it gets those guns out of the house, where accidents occur where you may have an accidental shooting or that,” Morris added. “The main thing is just getting the guns in. If it happens once, then that’s one time too many. That’s why I know that as a result of this gun buyback that somebody’s life is going to be saved.”