GRPD Shares Photos of Nearly 300 Guns Collected at Gun Buyback Event

This past weekend Grand Rapids Police and the Safe Alliances for Everyone (SAFE) Task Force hosted a gun buyback event in which nearly 300 guns were turned in.

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A total of 285 guns were collected on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

In exchange for each firearm turned in, residents got a gift card ranging from $100 for revolvers, shotguns and rifles, to $200 for assault-type rifles and semi-automatic handguns. The buyback events are anonymous.

The 285 guns traded in surpasses the number of guns collected during two buy-back events in 2020, in which SAFE and the GRPD collected a total of 267 firearms. The GRPD has shared pictures of the guns collected.

According to the City of Grand Rapids, the 285 firearms included 151 handguns (87 semi-automatic and 64 revolvers) and 134 long guns (80 shotguns and 54 rifles).

Two of the firearms turned in on Saturday had been reported stolen -- including one from the Grand Rapids Police Department back in 1982.

The City of Grand Rapids has said the gun buyback program is part of ongoing efforts to reduce violent crime in the city.

Asante Cain, Assistant to the City Manager said in a release,

Our gun buyback programs are a proactive approach to reducing the number of unwanted firearms in our community,” Asante Cain, assistant to the city manager, said. “We are pleased to see so many firearms turned in. It reduces the potential for these to fall in the wrong hands and be used in a future crime or accidents. The SAFE Task Force was proud to partner with the Police Department in hosting this event and working towards our shared goal of ending gun violence.