The national debate over gun control has been heating up since the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut last month. A shooting Monday that injured two people and claimed the lives of two people, including a 14-year old boy in Greensboro, has sparked a campaign to get guns off the streets.
The Greensboro Police Department is hosting a two-day program later this week to help secure the city’s streets and make them safer. Lt. J.R Franks says “Safe Surrender” will allow residents to give away unwanted handguns, rifles and shotguns to authorities with no questions asked.
“The weapons will be checked ballistically to make sure they were not involved in a crime. We are not collecting any names on the ones we are just making sure the guns were not lost, stolen or involved in a crime. If they were lost or stolen, they will be returned to their rightful owners, if not they will be destroyed, said Lt. Franks with the Greensboro Police Department.
Last year, Franks says aggravated assaults in Greensboro were down .2 percent from 2011, but police still recorded 639 aggravated assaults or weapons-related crimes in 2012.
Several cities across the country have been offering buy-back programs to remove weapons from the streets.
It was Monday’s shootings in Greensboro, on top of the string of gun violence that sparked council woman Diane Bellamy-Small to approach police about a similar program in the city.
“Safe Surrender” is not a buy-back program. Anyone 18 and older can drop off their weapons at three sites in the city: St. Mathews United Methodist Church on East Florida Street, Bessemer United Methodist Church on East Bessemer Avenue and Christ Wesleyan Church on South Holden Road.
Franks says “Safe Surrender” compliments an existing program that's designed to remove unwanted weapons in the community.
“We offer a program 365 days a year from the standpoint, if you are a resident and live inside the city, you can call a non-emergency number and we can send a patrol officer to your home. The difference is when we send by a patrol officer, he or she will have to collect your information for a report,” says Franks.
Franks says Ammunition can also be dropped off at the three church sites in Greensboro.
“This is the first time the city has conducted the Safe Surrender” program, but what they will see how successful it is to see if the city will offer it periodically,” says Franks.
The “Safe Surrender” program will take place Friday, Jan. 11 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday Jan. 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
