Framingham gun buyback a hit
The Framingham Police Department’s first gun buyback event brought in far more firearms — and unusual weapons — than officials ever expected.
The more than 150 guns turned over to police yesterday included an inert grenade, a pocket-size folding knife gun and a muzzleloaded shotgun.
“As you can see there’s quite a few guns in here,” police Sgt. Sean Riley said before picking a small, collapsible North American Arms 22-caliber gun — a weapon he hadn’t come across in his 23 years in law enforcement.
“Obviously when it’s out we can see there’s a barrel in there,” Riley said.
“You put that in your pocket most people would look and say, ` Oh, that’s a knife in his pocket,’ ... that’s something you can conceal very, very easily.”
The buyback program is aimed at keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals and unwanted toy weapons from being mistaken for real guns.
Other firearms turned in yesterday included handguns, revolvers, semi-automatics, long rifles and air rifles that look like the real deal.
One person even turned in an inert grenade — an unusual item that Riley said are frequently turned over to police.
Those who turned in air rifles or ammo received a $50 gift card, residents who turned over handguns got $150 and those who brought in military-grade rifles received $300 gift cards.
“A lot of these guns aren’t unusual,” Riley said.
“These are the guns where, say mom and dad passed away ... husbands, grandparents passed away — they’re cleaning out the house and they come across all of these weapons so they don’t know how to get rid of them; it’s kind of like hazardous waste, so it just gives people the opportunity.”
All of the guns collected yesterday will be turned over to state police for destruction, Riley said.