The Trenton Times published the following article on January 30, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Trenton gun buyback dishes out $324,000 for 2,604 weapons

By Alex Zdan/The Times 
on January 30, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated January 30, 2013 at 7:14 AM

TRENTON — Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said yesterday 700 illegal firearms were among the 2,604 weapons obtained during the Mercer County gun buyback, which doled out $324,000 for firearms over two days last weekend.

Standing at a lectern behind tables practically groaning under the weight of the rifles, shotguns, handguns and military-style weapons recovered, Chiesa declared the event, which exceeded its budget by more than $100,000 last weekend, a success.

With the no-questions-asked policy at the buyback, it was impossible to tell how many of the weapons came directly from the streets of Trenton. And it was unclear whether purchasing the weapons will have any effect on the nearly daily gun violence in the city.

“Can I tell you exactly how much it’s reduced by?” Chiesa said. “I can’t.”

Chiesa instead painted the gun buybacks that have taken place in Camden and Trenton as a smaller part of a larger, statewide anti-violence strategy.

“However, there is no question in my mind, as you see the results today, they’re part of the solution,” he said.

State Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence), who wrote to Chiesa immediately after he announced the buyback in Camden to request one in Mercer County, thought the effort was worth it. But she said holdouts who cherish their firepower and won’t give it up are inevitable.

“There’s no panacea and, excuse the pun, there’s not a magic bullet,” she added. “Those people who are out there in the community are not going to turn in their guns — they’re tools of the trade.”

Last weekend’s gun buyback may prevent violence in Trenton and other municipalities, as people who turned in firearms will no longer have access to a gun in the heat of an argument or domestic dispute.

“They say if it saves one life it’s worth it,” Turner said. “What if it was your life?”
All the firearms will be checked to see if they have been reported as lost or stolen, Chiesa said. Law enforcement officials will then determine any further tests that will be done before the weapons are destroyed.

The 700 weapons are considered illegal because their features or modifications violate state law. Several firearms had defaced serial numbers, Chiesa said.

Some of the more unusual weapons recovered included a “street sweeper” with a drum canister for shotgun shells, tiny revolvers and sawed-off shotguns easy to conceal under clothing, a billy club with a shotgun concealed inside and an anti-tank rocket launcher. All of them were displayed in the evidence warehouse at Trenton police headquarters for Chiesa’s news conference, with the launcher in prominent view.

“When someone texted me the picture on Saturday, I thought it was a joke,” Chiesa said.

Of the $324,000 spent in cash and vouchers payment later, the maximum paid for any single weapon was $250. The number of guns turned in at the Mercer event obliterated the state record of 1,137 guns set by Camden’s buyback in December.

“Even if I just got 700 illegal weapons, I would think it was a success,” Chiesa said.

Of the more than 2,600 weapons, more than 100 were sawed-off shotguns, which have been used in robberies and shootings in Trenton recently. The program obtained about 1,000 handguns, four TEC-9 automatic pistols, two Thompson submachine guns, and at least three M-1 military-style rifles, Chiesa said. Well over 90 percent of the guns were in working condition, the attorney general said.

Chiesa was certain that not just legal gun owners participated in the buyback.

“I’m convinced that people who had the potential to do violence had others turn in guns for them, so they could get the money for whatever purpose,” Chiesa said.

The twin successes mean the program will definitely be repeated, Chiesa said. He said he had no idea why Mercer’s numbers so far exceeded Camden’s.

The New Jersey State Police’s involvement in Trenton, the interception of gun shipments on highways, firearm trafficking investigations and the buybacks are all part of a sustained effort to reduce violence in the capital city, Chiesa said.

“Just because gun violence is a problem that’s big doesn’t mean we’re going to throw up our hands and quit,” he said.

Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.