New Haven Gun Buyback Nets 125 Guns

From New Haven PD:The New Haven Police Department and its partners, Yale New Haven Hospital, the Injury Free Coalition for Kids and the Newtown Foundation are pleased to announce the results of their recent successful New Haven Gun Buy-back event.

The GBB was held today, Saturday, 15 December, at the NH Police Academy from nine until till three o’clock. In all, 125 operable firearms were turned in. Three assault weapons, including two AR-15s were part of the cache. They are destined for destruction. This means they will never be able to fall into the hands of children, suicidal people and criminals. Our safety team gave out free gun locks and provided gun safety information to those who wanted it. There are many people who deserve our thanks but none more than the driving forces behind this and all of our past GBB events, Pina Violano, a manager at Yale New Haven Hospital in injury prevention, community outreach and research in emergency medical services for children as well as the Injury Free Coalition For Kids of New Haven and Steve Yanovsky of the Newtown Foundation. Officers catalogued each weapon – completing vast amounts of paperwork that assures the guns will disappear once and for all. Detectives and Officers from the NH Police Academy, armorers and Bureau of Identification personnel were responsible for making safe the weapons turned in and test-firing them. Thank you to the YNHH injury prevention staff. In all seven years of Buy-back events here in New Haven, we’ve taken in over eight hundred guns. We are encouraged by this recent buy-back and hope to keep our momentum.

In the months ahead, the NHPD and our YNHH partners have pledged to research and hopefully secure funding for future events. We’re optimistic there are community partners out there who want to help provide for such important and worthwhile events. Let us stay focused on keeping guns out of the wrong hands.

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