Burbank’s first-ever gun buyback program brought in 58 total weapons this past Saturday during an Anonymous Gun Buyback Event held in the parking lot of the Police/Fire Department Headquarters.
Residents surrendered 29 handguns, 17 rifles, and 11 shotguns for a $100 gift card from Walmart. Police were also given one assault weapon, which the owner was provided a $200 card for.
Sergeant Brent Fekety of the Burbank Police Department said in a release, “The drive-through event provided City of Burbank residents with an opportunity to anonymously relinquish their unwanted guns without having to show any identification and with “no questions asked” in exchange for gift cards. The goal of the event was to reduce the availability of unwanted firearms in the community by providing an opportunity for the safe and anonymous disposal of guns.”
Police will now verify all the weapons to see if any had been reported as lost or stolen and, if possible, will be returned to their owner. All of the other guns will be destroyed per California state law.
Such Drama. NO guns were “taken off the streets”, some guns were surrendered by their owners. This was a waste of taxpayer money and quite simply an overtime grab by the Burbank Police Department. Now you can give each other (council members & BPD) a big pat on the back.
Who paid for the gift cards? Isn’t it true that anyone can simply contact the Burbank Police Department and give them an unwanted firearm? If the process is anonymous, how do you know the person(s) were/are a Burbank resident and not someone outside of the City taking advantage of the gift card program? In the Burbank Police Department’s Official News Release https://www.burbankpd.org/assets/1/16/Burbank_PD_News_Release_-_Anonymous_Gun_Buyback_Event_Results.pdf the City stated “[all weapons collected were verified to determine if they have been reported lost or stolen…” which indicates the City already conducted this research. Would you please post the statistics so we know how many firearms were lost or stolen? The use of the word “recovery” in the press release indicates something was returned to a normal state. Words matter and if a firearm was lost or stolen, then “recovery” would be an accurate term to use. If the firearms were simply turned in from legal ownership, they were redeemed for a gift card, not recovered. Please post the details of how many of the 58 firearms were reported as lost or stolen according to the government’s records. The event is referred to as a “success” and I would like to understand why that term was used. Please provide clarification. Were there goals in mind, such as recovering lost or stolen property?
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