gun buyback
A new gun buyback program in Seattle and King County is the first since 1992 in response to a spike in homicides in the city. That year there were 60 murders in Seattle. (AP Photo/file)

Seattle, King County officials launch new gun buyback program

BY Chris Sullivan  on January 8, 2013 @ 5:24 am (Updated: 5:36 pm - 1/8/13 )

Seattle and King County are launching a new Gun Safety Initiative that includes a gun buyback program in hopes of reducing the number of firearms in the community.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine and other law enforcement, health and community leaders announced the the new initiative Tuesday morning in Seattle.

McGinn says the program is modeled after other programs across the country. People will be allowed to anonymously turn in their unwanted weapons in exchange for a gift card valued at up to $100.00 for hand guns, shot guns and rifles. Assault weapons will be worth up to a $200.00 gift card. Officials say law enforcement officials will not take pictures of participants, track their license plates or run ballistic tests on the guns turned in.

"This gun buyback program can help us protect public health and safety and reduce gun violence in our communities," said McGinn.

Seattle last had a buyback program in 1992 in response to a spike in homicides in the city. That year there were 60 murders in Seattle.

The city recovered 1,200 weapons in just four days, paying out $60,000.

The buyback, however, did little to curb the violence. The number of homicides went up in 1993 and 1994.

The first new gun buyback will be held on Saturday, January 26, 2013, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, in downtown Seattle in the parking lot underneath Interstate 5 between Cherry and James Streets.

The Seattle Police Department will also partner with other law enforcement agencies in King County and community and faith based organizations to set up other gun buyback locations throughout Seattle and King County, where individuals can turn in firearms anonymously and with no questions asked.

"If we can prevent just one child, one innocent bystander, from being the victim of a random accident, or the target of an unstable person, it will be well worth our time and effort," said King County Executive Dow Constantine.

The effectiveness of such programs has been debated, but they very well might save lives, supporters said, and at worst can't do any harm.

The program was announced on the two-year anniversary of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting that killed six people and left then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically injured. It also came a month after a gunman in Newtown, Conn., opened fire in an elementary school, killing 20 children and six adults.

"This isn't a trick, and this isn't a sting. Whether you're turning an anti-tank missile launcher you `found' in your basement, or your Gammie's old .45, the buyback is anonymous with no questions asked," the police department said in a statement.

Amazon.com, which has been expanding its headquarters in Seattle, kicked in $30,000 in Amazon gift cards. In an emailed statement, the company said only that it thanked Seattle Mike McGinn for the invitation to participate and that it was happy to do so.

The Seattle Police Foundation donated $25,000, Seattle-based search engine optimization software company SEOmoz gave $10,000 and PEMCO insurance committed $5,000. That money will be used for gift cards from other retail or grocery stores.

By Tuesday afternoon, additional donors had come forward, with entrepreneur Nick Hanauer and his wife giving $25,000 and the University of Washington Medical Center pledging $10,000. That brought the total for the program to $108,000, the mayor's office said.

A similar gun-buyback program in Los Angeles last month netted more than 2,000 weapons, including 901 handguns and two rocket launchers.

McGinn and Constantine said the buyback program isn't designed as a panacea but as one tool to reduce gun violence. If a single shooting never materializes because of it, the effort will have been worth it, they said.

But Dave Workman, senior editor at The Gun Mag, a publication of the Second Amendment Foundation, described such programs as political theater that doesn't make anyone safer.

He pointed to a 2004 study by the National Research Council. It questioned the effectiveness of such programs, saying the weapons typically turned in are those least likely to be used in criminal activities, guns are so readily available that the programs have little practical effect, and with tens of millions of handguns in circulation in the U.S., the odds any particular weapon will be used in a crime are minuscule.

"We've had a history of these gun buybacks around the country, and they really haven't done anything," Workman said.

Metz argued that getting unwanted guns out of the community is a laudable goal: It means they won't be involved in an accidental shooting or stolen and used in a crime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
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Comments (97)


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  • dori monson fan wrote...
    seems like this will encourage theives
    January 8, 2013 9:28 am
    to go out and steal more guns.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • make_or_break wrote...
    Amazon...hypocrites
    January 8, 2013 9:30 am
    Trying to alleviate some of their guilty conscience for selling AND making bank on firearms accessories? Too funny...and sad...considering they have no problem allowing bump fire stocks to be sold on their site that effectively turn most any semi-auto AR or AK into a pseudo full auto rifle.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SMarti018 wrote...
    100$ for handgun 200$ for assault rifle?
    January 8, 2013 9:55 am
    My handguns average 550$ used and my AR15's i could sell for 1600$ or more used.... whoever trades there gun in is gettign ripped off! What a stupid program and a waist of money.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Not Me
    January 8, 2013 10:10 am
    My worn out, now slam firing .22 auto pistol is worth nothing. It is now unsafe to use so I have been saving it for a gun back. I think I paid about $130 for it in 1986 or so. That makes a net $30 for many years of fun with it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Oops
    January 8, 2013 10:11 am
    Gun buy back
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    They don't indicate what constitutes as a "gun"
    January 8, 2013 10:26 am
    Seems I could go get a couple dozen $25 air soft pistols and make a tidy profit.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • deltta wrote...
    Trigger finger
    January 8, 2013 10:05 am
    Hello?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    Amazon and Jeff Bezos gave over $2.5MM to WA United for Marriage to support R74
    January 8, 2013 10:25 am
    Affecting less than 5% of the population and $30K to Seattle for a gun buyback program that affects 100% of the population. I sincerely hope that WA4Marriage and the Seattle LGBT community donate millions to this effort. It is the right thing to do.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nickatnyt wrote...
    How about a booze buy-back program?
    January 8, 2013 10:25 am
    That stuff kills people in all sorts of manners - DUI, domestic violence, over-serving at bars, love triangles, alcohol poisoning, etc.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • bigdogina4x4 wrote...
    Then McGoof wouldn't have anything for lunch
    January 8, 2013 11:38 am
    HA
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    As a Gun Owner
    January 8, 2013 10:26 am
    I fully support efforts like this. Anyone that feels they should not have a weapon and want to give a functioning firearm up for 1-2 hundred bucks should. Those people should not have firearms. It is less firearms in the hands of people that should not have them.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    I never saw the word "functioning"
    January 8, 2013 10:32 am
    .
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    Is anyone sure what will happen to these guns?
    January 8, 2013 10:34 am
    I know for a fact that guns siezed in drug busts have been resold to the public. If the guns were found to be legal and safe they can be sold and registered by the new owner.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • vanderleun wrote...
    Let's see.... M1s in good condition
    January 8, 2013 10:38 am
    sell for hundreds or above a thousand. Sure $100 bucks. That'll get a lot of valuable and functioning weapons. Will they pay for supersoakers?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Robin C wrote...
    I should make an add...
    January 8, 2013 10:40 am
    I'll give them cash rather then a gift card!No one in there right mind would give up a firearm for that money. You can sell a .22 rifle for more then that! Most moronic thing this mayor has come up with!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }