Weekend Gun Buyback Event In Denver Collects 189 Firearms

DENVER (CBS4) – A gun buyback program in Denver last weekend recovered 189 firearms. It's the first of many safe disposal opportunities scheduled for the coming months.

According to Denver Police Department, Denver hasn't had a buyback event since 1993. A Colorado law enacted in 2013 has made holding buyback events complicated.

"Gun buybacks are difficult to put together. There is a state law that prohibits us from taking guns and providing compensation for those guns," DPD Division Chief Ron Thomas said. "What's unique about this is we had a community partner that helped us get past that challenge by taking those guns, destroying them on the spot and turning them into garden tools."

The money to buy guns back comes from a grant to a program called RAWtools that repurposes weapons into garden tools.

RELATED: Denver Broncos Team Up For Gun Buyback Event In Aurora

Mike Martin, executive director of RAWTools, says they received federal approval to hold the event. In a statement to CBS4, Martin explained:

"We disable each firearm after they have been checked and verified as unloaded. We do not give gift cards to the person who dropped off their firearm until it is disabled. According to the ATF (and verified by the AG) no transfer has occurred since the gun owner did not leave the premises prior to their firearm being disabled and therefore no longer being a firearm."

RAWTools aims to curb violence in communities, but some research shows gun buyback programs aren't always effective. DPD says they're aware of the data.

"These are not from criminals. Did we have a bunch of gang members show up and turn in their guns? No. I don't think that was really the point," explained Thomas, who says many people are just not comfortable keeping guns in their homes. "There are stories attached to some of these guns. Some were returned from families who told stories of them being used in a family member's suicide and things like that."

DPD says the department took more than 2,000 guns off the street last year from people who shouldn't have them. Thomas says any opportunity to promote safe storage and safe disposal of weapon is a positive thing.

Jonathan McMillan, Director of Denver's Youth Violence Prevention Program, says buybacks can keep guns out of young hands.

"Oftentimes, young people get access to guns on the black market that are stolen from people's homes, stolen from people's vehicles, not properly secured, or they end up getting lost," said McMillan. "They end up in the hands of young people who, quite frankly, don't have the emotional intelligence to resolve conflict without resorting to violence."

McMillan says the city has committed over $1 million to youth violence prevention and most of that money has gone back to organizations that best understand their community needs. The city is also utilizing a Youth Advisory Council to hear from young people who deal with this daily.

"When a young person is exposed to a violent act, the likelihood that they're going to be exposed to another violent act or involved increases exponentially. That's part one. Then when there are firearms that aren't properly secured, overseen, or overlooked, it increases the risk of a young person getting their hands on them," McMillan said. "Since 2020, we've seen a steady increase in property crime, and we've seen a steady increase in people purchasing firearms. The fact that young people are getting ahold of these firearms at these alarming rates probably coincides with those two statistics I've just listed."

For upcoming buyback events, visit the RAWTools website.