BROOKLYN — There are 134 fewer guns on the streets Sunday following a gun buyback sponsored by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the NYPD, but conflicted emotions felt by many local residents after Friday’s mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut may have fueled a spike in turn-ins.
“It inspired me to come by,” said Dorothy Johnson, a 60-year-old grandmother who told The New York Post she turned in a relative’s .22-caliber pistolafter hearing of the tragedy.
“It should inspire everyone. We’ve got to protect our children.”
The buyback program was held at Mt. Ollie Baptist Church in Brownsville and the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Cyprus Hills.
Of the 134 guns collected, 80 were revolvers and 31 were semi-automatic pistols, officials said.
One sawed-off shotgun was turned in, along with a small gun disguised to look like a wallet.
Participants were given a $200 prepaid bank card for turning in working handguns and given a $20 bank card for handing over rifles and shotguns.
Although Hynes told CBS that no piece of legislation could have prevented Friday’s tragedy, at a recent press conference he called on Congress to enact stricter gun control laws to prevent the influx of guns from the deep South to the northeastern states.
“It has nothing to do with the 2nd Amendment or the rights of people to have guns, but it’s something that Congress has got to do something about,” he said. “There has to be better regulation.”
