Dec. 01--TAMPA -- City council members today unanimously approved a $25,000 allocation from a trust fund for Tampa police to use for a new gun buy-back program.
The move was made at the request of the Tampa Police Department.
"We're having killings all over the city, and we need to make a dent in it," City Council Chairman Charlie Miranda said.
Similar gun buy-back programs have happened elsewhere in the Tampa Bay area.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office had a program a few years ago near the University of South Florida, sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. Citizens provided deputies with about 50 guns, some of which were practically new and others were practically antiques.
"We didn't find any that were stolen or anything," sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon said. "It was just a wide hodgepodge of rifles and handguns."
In return for the guns deputies provided people a choice of sneakers or Walmart gift certificates, Callaway said. There was a no-questions-asked policy, and after deputies received the guns they ziptied them to make sure triggers couldn't be pulled.
"It was quite successful," Callaway said. "We had a steady stream of people."
The typical person turning in a gun said it belonged to a relative who had it over the years, Callaway said. People said their guns were in shoeboxes or closets and they didn't want the weapons around anymore.
While hardened criminals don't typically provide their guns at these kinds of programs, Callaway said gun buy-backs are still worthwhile because, among other things, they might prevent thieves from breaking into houses to steal guns.
"You nip at the bud piece by piece with these gun buy-backs," he said.
Copyright 2011 - Tampa Tribune, Fla.
