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Phoenix police and Mayor Greg Stanton have announced that another $100,000 from an anonymous donor will keep the gun-buyback program going.
The funds for the program ran dry in the middle of the second of three scheduled dates for the buyback, which started with an initial $100,000 donation. An additional 72 guns were given to police in exchange for nothing after the grocery-store gift cards ran dry on Saturday.
See also:
–Phoenix Gun-Buyback Funds Run Dry, but People Still Turn in 72 More Guns
–Pricey Colt AR-15 Assault Rifle Among Guns Turned in at Phoenix Police Buyback Event
–Phoenix Police Took in 803 Guns in Latest Buyback, but Just One Assault Rifle
–City of Phoenix Gun-Buyback Program Not Affected by New Law, for Now
–Jan Brewer Signs Bill for Gun Rights (As in Giving the Rights to the Guns)
The event, coordinated by Arizonans for Gun Safety, initially was scheduled to go on for three weekends this month, but the event — which was funded to exchange gift cards for fewer than 1,000 guns — took in 803 guns in the first weekend alone.
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Even after consolidating it to just one location this past weekend, a couple hundred guns still were handed over to the cops, which looked to be the end of the program, billed as the largest gun-buyback event in the history of the state.
Now, with the new $100,000 donation, the gun buybacks will be taking place on Saturday at three different Phoenix churches: Southminster Presbyterian, Betania Presbyterian, and Sunnyslope Mennonite Church.
The program’s taking place before the new law — which specifically bans agencies from “facilitat[ing] the destruction of a firearm,” and instead forces them to turn around and sell the guns to dealers — that goes into effect.
Potential loopholes in the law to allow gun buybacks to go forward have been pointed out, but it remains to be seen if someone will attempt to use those loopholes.
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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
