By Thomas TracyOne hundred seventy four handguns and assault weapons bought with gun buy-back debit cards? $34,800.
Sixty-seven rifles and shotguns snapped up with gun buy-back debit cards? $6,700.
Forty-six BB guns purchased with gun buy-back debit cards? $920.
The cost of taking 287 firearms off neighborhood streets?
Priceless.
Police and prosecutors forked over $42,420 on Saturday in the first gun buy-back event of 2010, which Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes described as a staggering success.
“There are 287 fewer guns on the streets of Brooklyn than there were yesterday,” Hynes said, explaining that the collected hardware would be put through ballistic tests and then melted down.
Six borough churches stretching from East Flatbush and Canarsie to Bedford-Stuyvesant and Buswick participated in the program, where residents are encouraged to drop off guns — with no strings attached — at any participating site for a $200 bank card that can be used to buy merchandise or for cash at any ATM. Rifles and shotguns will also be accepted, but only for $100 each. BB guns and air pistols will be purchased at $20 apiece.
All told, the city purchased 155 revolvers, 55 semiautomatics, four assault weapons, 30 shotguns, 37 rifles and 46 BB guns from area residents, officials said.
Saturday’s event follows three similar gun buy-back events in 2008. That year, the DA’s office purchased more than 1,500 firearms, including 460 revolvers, 379 semiautomatics and 41 sawed-off shotguns.
The buy-back program was funded by the NYPD, Hynes’ office and several borough elected officials, including City Councilmember Letitia James (D-Fort Greene), State Senator Eric Adams (D-Fort Greene), Assemblymember Karim Camara (D-Crown Heights), City Councilmember Darlene Mealy (D-East Flatbush) and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery (D-Prospect Heights).
