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)


  • Add A Comment

  • R L M 456 wrote...
    Wish I could buy me a new $1200 -$1400 gun
    January 8, 2013 10:50 am
    for $200 w/ no tax

    Great screwing for the people to stupid to know what their guns are worth

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • irony wrote...
    will they pay full value?
    January 8, 2013 10:51 am
    last time i checked guns are $500.00 or more each so if they're offering $50.00 bucks then the city is stealing. and how many more police officers are they going to hire to provide the protect from criminals who don't turn in their guns?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • irony wrote...
    all the criminal shooters had one thing in common.
    January 8, 2013 10:54 am
    it wasn't the guns. they're all on medications that make them even crazier. more kids are killed in crosswalks each month than school shootings. if courts and banks have armed protection, and our kids are more important, then why don't we have armed protection for schools. gun removal won't end school killings. it will change to pipe bombs and poisonous gas. more kids are going to die after the gun ban is put in place. chicago has more murders each year and they have a gun ban.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HappyPappy wrote...
    Hmmm...
    January 8, 2013 11:06 am
    There were 60 homicides in 1992 when the last buy back program instituted but 16 in 2011 and 26 in 2012 through November...Not all the killings where due to gun shot and most I would guess not due to rifles of any type. So why the rush to get the guns off the streets!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Moondoggie wrote...
    The buyback, however, did little to curb the violence. The number of homicides went up in 1993 and 1994.
    January 8, 2013 11:07 am
    If the numbers had gone down, they would have credited the gun buy-back with saving lives. So using their logic it’s clear that the gun buy-back caused the murder rate to go up.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HappyPappy wrote...
    I predict that..
    January 8, 2013 11:12 am
    William Lawn would fail any psychological examination and he would be put on medications.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HappyPappy wrote...
    Felons and guns
    January 8, 2013 11:17 am
    With all the rules in place that prevent the police from checking the status of the person turning them...felons who now have inoperable guns can turn them in to get money for ones that do work...Brilliant!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SMarti018 wrote...
    look at that picture of the guns above!
    January 8, 2013 11:28 am
    HAHA I bet most in not all of those guns dont even function anymore lol... what a waist of time and money.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nickatnyt wrote...
    The guns in that barrel could be thrown at someone...
    January 8, 2013 11:33 am
    ...or used like a ball-been hammer on someone's head. Buying back non-functioning guns would be like buying back anything in someone's house that could kill a person. I have a broken drinking glass here, how about that?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • bigdogina4x4 wrote...
    Where to start..................
    January 8, 2013 11:32 am
    First, I am OK with a volunteer buy back program not funded by our government. Just as I don't want any stinkin' liberal to force his belief system on me - I won't force mine on anybody who wants to get rid of THEIR OWN guns. However,leave it to McGoof and his pals to re-institute a failed program from 1992. Also, even if local businesses donated all the funds to buy the guns - our tax dollars are still paying for all the administrative costs, so let's not sell this as a program not funded by government. You can see by some of the previous posts, this is only going to bring in crappy guns in poor condition (or not working). A criminal with a working gun is not going to turn it in for $100, when he can sell it for $200 to another criminal? This logic is stupid. Any why not run ballistics on the turned in guns?----because then you would find out that this effort is a waste of time (if your goal is to remove guns from the hands of criminals).
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Inf Teamleader wrote...
    I will buy your gun
    January 8, 2013 11:54 am
    For more than they are offering. Email me at infteamleader@gmail.com and I will buy your gun. All guns welcome. Working or not.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • roomtemp wrote...
    @Inf Teamleader...
    January 8, 2013 3:09 pm
    ROFL!!!... I guess that I wasn't the only one thinking about bringing a wad of cash and a few totes to the pickup site eh?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • jmills wrote...
    aggreed
    January 9, 2013 2:47 am
    I said that earlier but i think i got flagged. Trying to get all members of the gun forums to go there with cash. I'd pay WAY more than 200 bucks for the right fire arm.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }