It was an "unbelievable turnout" as scores of people came out — umbrellas in hand for the heavy rain — to exchange firearms for money on Saturday.
The gun buyback in Hauppauge provided a no-questions-asked opportunity for anyone to turn in a firearm in exchange for a prepaid gift card.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said the buyback drew an “unbelievable turnout.”
“It’s nice to see some of these firearms getting off the street,” he said. “I’ve seen too often where these guns end up in the wrong hands and end up hurting people.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James hosted nine simultaneous events Saturday, from Niagara Falls to Long Island, as part of her office’s effort to combat gun violence.
James' office partnered with the Suffolk County Police Department at the attorney general's Suffolk Regional Office in Hauppauge to collect the firearms.
A line of people remained even past the scheduled 1 p.m. end for the three-hour event.
In the end, 462 total firearms, 38 of those assault rifles, were collected in Hauppauge. Statewide, 3,076 guns were turned in, including 185 assault rifles, according to the attorney general's office.
“Every gun that we removed out of Hauppauge homes and off the streets is a potential tragedy averted and another step in protecting communities throughout New York state," James said in a statement after the buyback ended.
All the guns collected will be destroyed, according to James' office. The buyback offered $500 for a handgun plus $150 for any additional handguns. Rifles or shotguns were worth $75. Assault rifles were worth $500, as were ghost guns, which are firearms with no serial number.
About 50 minutes into the buyback, nearly $11,000 had been dispersed.
The gun owners waited on a line that wrapped around the building to reach an initial checkpoint where officers secured the weapons and confirmed they were unloaded. Then the gun owners waited again to hand over the weapon and collect their reward.
Suffolk police inspect and tag firearms turned in at a gun buyback hosted by the state attorney general and the Suffolk County Police Department in Hauppauge on Saturday. Credit: John Roca
State Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood) said her office helped promote the buyback through social media and newsletters. Too many lives are being lost across the country to gun violence, she said.
“This is just an effort to help our families bring in their guns to keep their families safe,” she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 48,000 firearm deaths in the United States in 2021. A Washington Post analysis published last July found more than 43 million guns are estimated to have been purchased in the U.S. from 2020 to 2021.
Officials said the event’s anonymity was a key reason for the large turnout.
“It allows people to feel OK, that they will not be judged and PD is not going to go after them,” Martinez said. “It is a safe place for them to be part of the solution.”
Police do not check the guns for connections to any crimes, Harrison said.
“Hopefully, we can continue these efforts in gun buybacks a little bit more, even on the local level working with our elected officials to continue to remove guns off the street,” the police commissioner said.
TJ Hatter, the Long Island director of intergovernmental affairs for the attorney general’s office, said when he arrived at the office around 8 a.m. people were already lined up — more than two hours before the scheduled start.
“Ever since this was announced there’s been a lot of interest, a lot of questions,” he said.
A Huntington woman received $625 after turning in a pair of guns she said she inherited from a friend who died.
“We wound up taking [the guns] because that was his wishes,” she said. “But now what do you do with this stuff?”
The woman, who declined to provide her name due to the program’s anonymity, said the buyback provided an ideal path to dispose of the weapons.
After receiving a MasterCard gift card, another woman thanked the officers and said: “You helped me so much.”
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
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