Mar 28, 2023 - News

Police Department's gun buyback program yields 30 firearms

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

The Salt Lake City Police Department said it collected 30 firearms from its gun buyback program over the weekend — a substantial decrease from a similar event held last year.

Details: The police department and Salt Lake City Police Foundation held a no-questions-asked gun buyback program last Saturday in an effort to decrease the number of firearms in the community and to reduce gun violence.

  • Police offered $50 gift cards for firearms and $100 gift cards for assault-style weapons. Before the event, the police department said it had approximately 150 gift cards to give away.
  • Police said they retrieved 10 revolvers, seven rifles, six shotguns, four pistols and three assault-style rifles during the three-hour event.

Flashback: Last year's event yielded 103 firearms.

What they're saying: Mark Wian, a sergeant in the police department's public relations unit, told Axios the time of year and general awareness of the event may have contributed to this year's decrease in collections.

  • "As we do with every event, we'll go back to see how we can improve," Wian said via email. "That said — we do view this as a success. Even if we had just one firearm turned in, it would have been a success."

Between the lines: Research shows gun buyback programs on their own aren't effective at culling violent crime. They could, however, help educate communities about how to reduce gun violence.

The big picture: Salt Lake County saw a 41% increase in fatal firearm assaults between 2016 and 2020, per data from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

avatar

Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Salt Lake City.

🌱

Support local journalism by becoming a member.

Learn more

More Salt Lake City stories

No stories could be found

Salt Lake Citypostcard

Get a free daily digest of the most important news in your backyard with Axios Salt Lake City.

🌱

Support local journalism by becoming a member.

Learn more