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The firearms came in all sizes, calibers, makes, models and ages, from a pearl-handled derringer to a reported 27 assault weapons.
The total also includes 487 handguns, 281 rifles and shotguns and 146 inoperable weapons and BB/pellet guns, New Jersey Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
Bruck didn’t say how many of the 941 weapons surrendered during “Guns for Cash” events in Atlantic City, East Orange, Newark, and two locations in Paterson this past Saturday were capable of doing serious harm.
He announced that additional gun buyback events will be held Oct. 23 in Bergen, Camden, Cumberland, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset counties, the attorney general said.
Such programs alone won’t eliminate gun violence, authorities say. They can enhance public safety, however, by reducing the number of firearms in circulation.
The buybacks “did not have anything to do with infringing on the rights of lawful gun owners,” Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said during a news conference at the National Guard Armory in Lawrenceville.
“The key purpose of this initiative was to reduce the number of illegal and unwanted guns in households and prevent them from being used in a potentially dangerous manner,” Stephens said. “Fewer guns available will have a direct effect on making our streets safer.”
“Each gun we’ve collected potentially represents a life saved,” Bruck added.
The weapons were rendered inoperable by local police and will be melted down, authorities said.
New Jersey residents were invited to turn in up to three firearms of any type. They were paid $25 for inoperable firearms and BB/pellet guns, $125 for rifles and shotguns, $200 for handguns and $250 for assault weapons.
The money came from forfeiture accounts collected by local police department, county prosecutors’ offices and the state Division of Criminal Justice.
“We know that there is no singular solution to gun violence suppression – it requires a combination of tactics,” state Division of Criminal Justice Director Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said, “but more than anything it requires collaboration.
“The gun buyback program is one of the many tools in our toolbox,” she said.
“The option to not try anything and everything to reduce gun violence is not an option,” Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes added. “Our communities deserve every effort.”
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