District police will pay up to $100 for each gun turned in today as part of the city’s crime emergency initiative to get weapons off the streets.
Police hope to take hundreds of firearms out of homes and off the streets in one day.
“The goalis simple and straightforward: to reduce the number of needless injuries and senseless deaths that are the result of firearm violence,” said Police Chief Charles Ramsey.
The Metropolitan Police Department conducted three gun buy-backs six years ago and recovered 6,200 firearms. The D.C. Council approved $250,000 for today’s buyback during the crime emergency session last month.
The District has been under a crime emergency since July 12, when the city saw 13 homicides in 11 days.
Since then, police have recovered 422 guns during policing activities, 22 percent more than over the same period last year. Through the first eight months of this year, the MPDC had recovered 1,616 firearms, a 3 percent increase from the same period of 2005.
The gun buy-backs will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at three police stations: 415 4th St. SW; 100 42nd St. NE; and 2455 Alabama Ave. SE.
