Nassau Holding Third Annual Anonymous Gun Buyback

Nassau holding third annual anonymous gun buyback

By Ann Givens

For the third time in a year, Nassau County is holding anonymous gun buybacks, which are scheduled over the next two weekends at churches in Hempstead, Westbury and Long Beach, officials said.

Residents can drop off any working handgun at the three churches with no questions asked, officials said. In exchange, they will be given $200 cash, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said at a news conference Wednesday. "It's incredibly important to make sure guns get into the hands of our police officers before they get into the hands of our children," Rice said.

Guns brought by car must be transported in the trunk, and all guns must be unloaded and put in a paper or plastic bag or in a shoebox, officials said. Licensed guns, BB guns, air pistols, long guns and replicas will not be accepted, Rice said.

After the buyback, all guns turned in will be checked to see if they have been used in the commission of a crime, but no effort will be made to determine who dropped them off, Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said.

Nassau's last two gun buybacks, which took place in December and in May, resulted in the recovery of more than 700 guns, officials said.

Saturday's buyback will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Iglesia Pentecostal De Hempstead, 600-603 Greenwich St., Hempstead, and at First Baptist Cathedral of Westbury, 212 Garden St., Westbury. The Sept. 19 buyback will be at Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church, 620 Rev. J.J. Evans Blvd., Long Beach.