As part of its commitment to reducing gun violence in DC, the
MPDC has implemented a number of different strategies, including
periodic gun buy-backs. Gun buy-backs allow individuals to turn
in unwanted firearms to the police with no questions asked. They
are granted amnesty from any gun possession charges that might apply,
and—as an added incentive—receive payment for each gun.
After the weapons are collected and catalogued, the MPDC's Firearms
Examination Section test-fires them and gathers ballistics evidence
about each weapon. The MPDC works with the Federal Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to trace the weapons and track
their involvement with previously unsolved crimes. The ATF also
conducts an analysis of all weapons to give police officials a better
understanding of gun possession and trafficking patterns. After
they have been test-fired and analyzed, all the weapons accumulated
during gun buy-backs in DC are melted down and destroyed at an area
foundry.
Between August 1999 and December 2000, the MPDC conducted three
gun buy-backs. During these buy-backs, the MPDC collected 6,253
firearms and paid out a total of approximately $528,000. Past gun
buy-backs have been jointly funded by the District of Columbia and
the US
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Because of budgetary
constraints, no additional gun buy-backs are currently planned.
More information about recent MPDC gun buy-backs is available at the
following:
