1,000 Guns Collected in Union County Buyback

Union County residents turned in 1,010 unwanted firearms at churches in Elizabeth, Linden and Plainfield last weekend as a part of a state-sponsored gun buyback initiative, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced Tuesday afternoon.

Six churches—three in Union County, and another three in Hudson—served as drop-off sites for people last Friday and Saturday. In all, Hoffman said a total of 1,599 guns were turned in from the two counties.   

Hoffman hailed the buyback effort, not only because it pushed to more than 14,000 the total number of guns collected through the state’s buyback initiative since December 2012, but because he said it showed that New Jersey residents want to be part of the solution to society’s gun violence problem.

“The buyback effort ... was a success by any measure," he said at a Tuesday press conference in Jersey City. "First and foremost, we helped make communities safer by getting lethal firearms off the streets—including many weapons that are illegal to own because of their extraordinary destructive power.

“Through this effort,” Hoffman added, “we also reached a new milestone this past weekend—14,000 firearms taken out of circulation since we began the statewide initiative.  That’s 14,000 fewer weapons out there to be used in a crime, or to claim someone’s life in a tragic accident.”

The acting attorney general acknowledged that buybacks alone won’t solve the complex national problem of gun violence, but he said they work as part of a broader law enforcement strategy to reduce the number of shooting deaths and serious injuries.

The two-day buyback in Union and Hudson counties brought in a total of 713 handguns, 12 assault weapons and more than 150 illegal guns—guns that have been sawed-off or otherwise modified or guns unlawful to own because of their excessively high ammunition magazine capacities.

In Union County, the 1,010 weapons collected included two MAC-10 assault weapons with high-capacity magazines, an SKS assault rifle similar to an AK-47 and an MP45 automatic pistol with a large-capacity magazine.

“There was some serious firepower turned in last weekend,” said Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park. 

Hoffman agreed.

 “It is truly sobering to see the array of deadly firearms collected here today,” said the acting attorney general.  “It brings home, viscerally, why these gun buybacks are so important, and why everyone who participated ... has made a difference.  

"Were it not for our buyback, all of these firearms—the vast majority of them operable—would still be out there with the potential to be stolen, to fall tragically into the hands of a curious child or to be stashed in a central location and used by criminals as so-called community guns.”

Those who turned in their weapons during the buyback were paid up to $250 per gun with no questions asked. Residents could receive remuneration for a maximum of three guns.

As with the previous state-led buybacks, guns were purchased using criminal forfeiture funds from the counties involved and the Attorney General’s Office's Division of Criminal Justice along with a contribution from CarePoint Health.  

The buyback event was a cooperative effort involving the Union and Hudson County Prosecutor’s Offices, the Union County Department of Public Safety, the Union County Police Department, the state Division of Criminal Justice, the Hudson and Union County Sheriff’s Offices, the New Jersey State Police, the Bayonne, Jersey City, Union City, Elizabeth, Linden and Plainfield police departments, CarePoint Health and area faith-based groups.

“What we’ve found is that these buybacks both energize and galvanize communities, and they help to build a bond of trust between neighborhoods and law enforcement,” Hoffman said.  “All of this can only help as we move forward and, in the future, continue to address not only the gun violence issue, but other public safety concerns as well.”