Attorney General Announces 84 Guns Collected During Buyback Event in Rome

The Attorney General of the State of New York Letitia James has announced the results of a community gun buyback event that took place in the City of Rome.

Attorney General James' office announced that they held the community gun buy back program Wednesday and it was a great success. Officials with her office say 84 firearms were turned into the law enforcement professionals working the event. The Attorney General's office partnered with Rome Police.

Gun buyback programs are essential to protecting New Yorkers and preventing dangerous guns from ending up in the wrong hands. The threat of gun violence has loomed over our communities for far too long, and it is imperative that we take every step possible to eradicate this violence. My office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to keep our neighborhoods safe, and we thank the Rome Police Department for their invaluable support and partnership in this effort.

Of the 84 firearms collected, James' office says there were 30 handguns, 34 shotguns and rifles and 20 non-functioning firearms. The Attorney General's Office has collected more than 4,300 firearms since gun buyback programs began in 2013. How it works is everyone who turns in a firearm at these events are given a prepaid gift card. Rome Mayor Jackie Izzo says the Rome Police Department was happy to partner with the Attorney General's office for the event. She says,

This is an important public service and we hope that many people choose to take advantage of this opportunity. The RPD strives every day to remove illegal handguns and rifles from our streets, but our citizens may take advantage of the gun amnesty program and receive funds for doing so. We thank Attorney General James for bringing this program to Rome and look forward to great results.

More gun buyback events will likely be scheduled in the future.