The Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton and New York City Councilman Donovan J. Richards held a gun buy-back program in Queens Saturday aimed at getting illegal and unwanted firearms off the streets.
For each eligible weapon surrendered, the giver would receive a pre-paid gift card worth up to $200. The program was held at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Far Rockaway Queens.
District Attorney Brown said, “The more guns taken off the streets of Queens, the fewer shootings and the fewer deaths. That is the goal of Saturday’s gun buy-back program – to keep the men, women and children of Queens County safe from gun violence. Getting guns off the streets of Queens and reducing gun violence has always been a top priority of my office. The support of the community is critical to the success of this program and emblematic of the level of cooperation needed by law enforcement to ensure the safety of all residents of Queens.”
Amnesty was given to anyone surrendering a firearm, with no questions asked.
“I grew up around here,” said Reverend Evon D. Gray, pastor of the church. “Our goal is to make our community better.”
NYPD officers escorted young men in and out of the church as they came to surrender weapons.
“The program is working,” said City Councilman Donovan J. Richards. “We’re trying to make a difference in this community. When these programs first started, we got over 87 guns off the streets. That was our initiative to move forward with this.”
This is the second gun buy-back program held in Queens this year. The previous event was in April and more than 80 firearms were collected at a Southeast Queens church.
