SFPD and nonprofit to hold gun 'buyback' event
Nov. 3—The Santa Fe Police Department and the nonprofit New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence have teamed up to hold their fourth gun "buyback" event, in which people can surrender unwanted firearms in their households in exchange for a variety of gift cards.
The guns later will be transformed into gardening tools.
The "no-questions-asked" buyback will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 13 at Santa Fe Municipal Court, 2511 Camino Entrada, the police department announced in a news release.
"No information is retained on the participant turning in the firearms," the news release said. "Participants can turn in as many firearms as they like; they must be unloaded, but in working condition."
"Education is a big part of this initiative, where we remind gun owners to ensure they keep track of and properly store their firearms to prevent unauthorized access by children or people prohibited from possessing of a firearm," Santa Fe police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said.
There have been "too many tragic incidents" of gun misuse in the community, he added.
New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, whose mission is to reduce firearm injuries and death, has purchased gift cards for food, gas and Amazon shopping sprees to distribute at the event.
The value of the gift card each buyback participant will receive depends on the type of firearm they turn in:
—$250 for M1 Garand, AR-15 and AK-47 type rifles.
—$200 for semi-automatic handguns and rifles.
—$100 for long guns, shotguns and revolver pistols.
Free gun locks also will be provided to gun owners.
Miranda Viscoli, co-president of the nonprofit, said the organization has held 13 buybacks in the state and is closing in on nearly 1,000 guns retrieved.
During a 2020 buyback event in Santa Fe, the group collected 196 guns.
If someone in Santa Fe turns in the 1,000th gun at the upcoming event, their buyback reward will be doubled, Viscoli said.
"The way I look at it, that's a thousand guns that could have gotten into unsafe hands," she added.
Once a gun is surrendered, officers will enter its information into the National Crime Information Center to determine if the firearm was stolen. If so, they will take the gun into evidence and contact the original owner, the news release said.
So far, Viscoli said, the federal database has found only four firearms collected at a New Mexico buyback event had been stolen.
Nearly 40 percent of the weapons collected are semi-automatic or assault weapons, she said.
Viscoli said the buyback is a place where grandparents, widows or widowers, parents and other household members can safely dispose of unwanted guns.
The guns will be dismantled, and then the nonprofit will send the metal and wooden parts to Rawtools in Colorado, where they will be forged into gardening tools. Viscoli the tools will be sold to raise more money for future gun buybacks.
