Gun Buyback Program Yielding Little Success in Boston

Photo Credit: BPD

After removing over 400 guns from the streets across Boston last year, the city’s gun buyback program has yielded little success in 2015 and it’s beginning to show.

A review conducted by the Boston Herald found the program has taken just a single gun off the streets since January 1. An official familiar with the buyback initiative told the newspaper that the program is still actively funded.

Several people have been shot and killed across the city this week, prompting Mayor Marty Walsh to call for end to the violent acts. He reminded residents that guns can be exchange for gift cards valued between $100 and $200.

The Boston Police Department cannot offer a definitive answer as to why the program is now failing. Officer James Kenneally told the Herald the program’s decline should not reflect on the department’s effort to rid the streets of illegal firearms.

Kenneally said 417 guns have been seized from criminals on the streets, just not through the buyback program. According to the Herald’s review, that number is 33 percent less than the 1,060 guns which were confiscated in 2014.

The faltering program has now been shifted into the spotlight after five shooting deaths rocked the city in a 24-hour span. Now the mayor is looking to renew his push to clear the streets.

“I’m asking any family members out there that you know have a gun in the house — or you might know that one of your kids has a gun — we will come and pick it up. We will take the gun out of the house,” Walsh said during a Thursday press conference.