Organizers, activists pleased with Falls gun buyback haul

Jul. 13—Community activist Jill Shaw stared straight at the table, covered with handguns, in the community room at St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church on Saturday afternoon.

Then her eyes darted to the blue barrels around the table, stuffed with shotguns and rifles, including a large number of assault weapons.

Shaw nodded her head, affirmatively, and pronounced herself pleased with the results of the latest community gun buyback in the Falls. The program is a collaboration between New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Falls Police Department.

"I'm happy," Shaw said. "Because each one of those (firearms) could (represent) a life."

A relentless campaigner against the violence that has plagued the Cataract City's streets in the last year, Shaw said any effort to reduce the number of guns in the community was a positive. Michael Russo, the assistant attorney-general-in-charge of James' Buffalo Regional Office, agreed that when guns are taken out of circulation, it makes a city's streets safer.

"Any weapon that is turned in at a gun buyback program, we know won't be used in a violent crime in the community," he said. "If people have unwanted guns and they don't know what to do with them, they could end up being stolen and used in a violent crime."

In the four-hour long program Saturday, Falls police and the attorney general's office said they collected 196 firearms including 92 handguns, 80 long guns, four of them assault rifles, and 20 non-working or antique guns. Since 2013, the attorney general has hosted gun buy back events throughout the state and has collected nearly 3,600 firearms.

Falls police and members of the AG's office said they surprised to arrive at the collection point at around 10 a.m. and find that there was already a line of local residents waiting to trade-in their weapons for prepaid gift cards or Apple iPads.

"I'm told it was the second most successful event in the state," Falls Mayor Robert Restaino said. "Some of these are incredible weapons that I am happy are in the hands of law enforcement. When you have one of these events, you get the stark reality of what's out there."

Restaino called the buyback "one piece" of a larger plan by Falls police to deal with a serious increase in crime in the city.

Russo said, "We are pleased that these types of weapons are getting turned in voluntarily. We're very pleased with the number of weapons turned-in today."

Saturday's program was the eighth gun buy back held by James, across the state, in the past two weeks.

"Gun violence is a public health crisis that is endangering communities across the state," James said. "From going after the violent drug rings responsible for this violence, to hosting these gun buybacks statewide, we are doing everything in our power to get guns off our streets and out of dangerous hands. We thank our partners in law enforcement for their invaluable support in this effort and shared commitment to ensuring all New Yorkers are safe."