Scene of one of the Gun Buyback events held Saturday in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Española. Courtesy/NMSP
NMSP News:
The New Mexico State Police (NMSP) coordinated a Gun Buyback event Saturday, Nov. 4 in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Española.
People anonymously handed in unwanted firearms and received Visa gift cards in return. Buybacks were intended to prevent unwanted or unneeded weapons from causing harm or being used to commit acts of violence.
439 firearms were collected from the event:
- 279 firearms were bought back from the three locations;
- Albuquerque collected 56 handguns and 54 rifles;
- Las Cruces collected 31 handguns and 56 rifles; and
- Española collected 19 handguns and 63 rifles.
After all gift cards from the three locations were distributed, 160 more unwanted firearms were handed in.
The total number of handguns collected from the three locations was 179, and the number of rifles collected from the three locations was 260.
Out of 439 firearms collected, two stolen firearms were recovered.
“This was a proactive measure to help reduce the risk of tragedies involving guns. We wanted to help remove unwanted guns from our communities and prevent the risk of deadly accidents, homicides, and suicides” NMSP Chief Troy Weisler said.
