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Santa Fe Police Sgt. James Lamb, left and Deputy Chief John Schaerfl, center, examine guns brought in during the city’s first gun buyback event Saturday. (EDDIE MOORE/JOURNAL)
Santa Fe Police ran out of ammunition after 90 minutes of what was supposed to be a six-hour event Saturday, the first of three gun buyback opportunities planned in the coming months.
Police were paying $200 apiece for semiautomatic or assault weapons, $150 for handguns and $100 for long guns — in the form of Visa gift cards — but ran out after distributing $12,500 worth of gift cards and collecting 123 weapons.
By 3 p.m., when the event was scheduled to end, police had collected a total of 194 weapons. Included were 53 semiautomatic handguns, 47 revolvers, 57 rifles, 31 shotguns and six assault weapons.
The city of Albuquerque held a similar event last weekend but collected only about 45 weapons. Albuquerque’s program, which is continuing on Saturdays throughout the month, doesn’t pay for the weapons but accepts them for disposal, no questions asked.
“I can’t say ‘surprised’; I’d say ‘pleased,’ ” said Santa Fe Police Chief Raymond Rael when asked his reaction to Saturday’s turnout in Santa Fe. Rael said that about 25 or 30 people were still in line when police ran out of gift cards donated by Wells Fargo Bank.
While they continued to accept guns from those willing to waive amnesty under the program, or who were not interested in receiving payment, police invited others to return for the other buybacks scheduled Feb. 9 and March 9.
Rael said $25,000 in city funding paid for the program.
“We’ll probably be asking the city council for additional money, and we’ll look for other corporate sponsors to help us out,” he said.
The guns were received with no questions asked.
-- Email the reporter at tlast@abqjournal.com. Call the reporter at 505-992-6277
