Dane Co. gun buyback nets 500+ weapons

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A whole bunch of individuals confirmed up on the Alliant Power Middle on Saturday to alternate their weapons for present playing cards as a part of a gun buyback initiative hosted collectively by the Dane Co. Sheriff’s Workplace and the Madison Police Division.

On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Workplace revealed 577 weapons, together with a crossbow, had been surrendered throughout the “Items for Weapons” occasion. It famous that over 250 autos handed by within the 4 hours they had been open. So many individuals, turned out, in reality, that NBC15 Information acquired a number of studies from individuals pissed off by the lengthy strains.

“Too typically, firearms can get into the fallacious arms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett defined. “By offering this chance for residents to securely flip in undesirable firearms and probably stop a tragedy.” The Sheriff’s Workplace assertion did acknowledge that they are going to by no means know if the weapons now off the road would ever have been used to trigger accidents or deaths; nevertheless, Barrett identified that it’s now sure that they won’t be.

In its assertion, the Sheriff’s Workplace broke down the varieties of weapons that they acquired, which included:

• 333 lengthy weapons, together with rifles, shotguns and 11 assault-style rifles
• 95 handguns, together with revolvers and semi-automatic pistols
• 93 pellet/BB/paintball weapons
• 1 Cross Bow pistol
• 55 home made weapons (3D, Slam weapons)
• And 380 lbs. of misc. ammunition

Whereas individuals had been allowed to give up their weapons with no questions requested, the Sheriff’s Workplace famous that every weapon’s serial quantity was cross-referenced to see if it had been stolen. None of them had been.

The Sheriff stated Tuesday authorities are nonetheless gathering data on what number of had been unregistered and added particular numbers will likely be revealed at a later time.

$43,380 in Reward Playing cards

In all, organizers distributed greater than $43,000 in present playing cards, which might be spent on gasoline or groceries, to individuals handing in weapons. Regulation enforcement had budgeted $50,000 for the occasion, with $32,000 going in the direction of the playing cards and the remaining getting used to pay for the occasion, together with the extra time that went to those that participated.

Native companies and neighborhood organizations, together with Madison Fuel and Electrical, Tellurian, Robinia Courtyard, Boys and Women Membership of Dane County and the NAACP Dane County Department 36AB, and a few personal residents chipped in over $8,000 extra. Moreover, the Boys and Women Membership gave $1,400 extra that was wanted to ensure nobody was turned away.

The quantity individuals got in alternate for his or her firearms was based mostly on the kind they had been handing over. Previous to the occasion, the Sheriff’s Workplace detailed how a lot every weapon could be price.

Whereas tens of hundreds of {dollars} in present playing cards had been obtainable, not everybody who wished to surrender their weapons took one, the Sheriff’s Workplace famous.

“Performative Theater on the Taxpayer’s Expense”

Not everybody was supportive of the buyback program. Previous to the occasion, Barrett’s opponent in November’s race for Dane Co. Sheriff, Anthony Hamiton, criticized the occasion.

He described the buyback as “performative theater on the taxpayer’s expense… so {that a} political appointee can pull the wool over the general public’s eyes,” and questioned if the cash spent could be efficient. He alleged that gun buyback packages have been proven to not work.

Hamiton claimed that for the $50,000 spent on present playing cards and different bills, the Sheriff’s Workplace may have carried out a warrant roundup or tried to recuperate stolen automobiles. He stated that quantity would have paid for every week’s price of extra time for these operations.

In response, Sheriff Barrett stated partly, “We take a look at this as a hit and we are going to proceed to concentrate on methods of holding individuals protected and specializing in options to issues and never merely figuring out issues in a really public approach.”

Following the occasion, Dane Co. Government Joe Parisi complimented the initiative and thanked the Sheriff’s Workplace for placing it collectively.

“We’ve seen all too typically that when weapons find yourself within the fallacious arms, there could be devastating penalties,” he stated. County supervisors had additionally signed off on the occasion.

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