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Over 1,000 guns donated during weekend buyback event
The New Mexico State Police collected 1,289 firearms during its second gun buyback event on Saturday. Four cities hosted the event: Albuquerque, Española, Farmington and Las Cruces.
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The New Mexico State Police collected just under 1,300 firearms during Saturday’s second gun buyback event across the state.
The event, which was coordinated by State Police, took place in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Española and Farmington.
A previous buyback event happened in November.
The buyback events were created in conjunction with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s September public health order targeting gun violence.
State Police spokesman Wilson Silver said 1,289 guns — 179 handguns and 260 rifles — were collected on Saturday. Of the 1,289, 10 were reported stolen.
He said 160 of those firearms were turned in after police ran out of gift cards.
The 1,289 guns was almost three times the amount that was collected in November, 439.
In Albuquerque, State Police collected 150 handguns and 422 rifles and shotguns, Silver said.
In the other cities:
Las Cruces: 136 handguns and 307 rifles and shotguns were collected.
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Española: 27 handguns and 64 rifles and/or shotguns
Farmington: 42 handguns and 108 rifles and/or shotguns
For handguns, people were offered $100 Visa gift cards and $200 gift cards for rifles and shotguns, State Police spokesman Philip Vargas said.
“This was another proactive event where people could voluntarily turn in unwanted guns as a means to help minimize gun violence, reduce suicides, accidental deaths, and injuries where guns are involved,” NM State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a statement. “State Police is committed to safeguarding every community we serve, and as such, we will continue to utilize every resource we have to reduce gun violence.”
