More than 3,000 guns were collected during this year’s gun buyback program funded by the City of Toronto.
Toronto police said that officers collected more than 2,200 long guns and more than 900 handguns as part of the three-week program, which ran from April 26 to May 17.
“What we heard when we got to the doors is that many people had no use for them anymore or had inherited them and had no idea how to get rid of them,” Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said at a news conference held Thursday.
The number of guns collected during those three weeks surpassed the 2008 buyback program, which saw about 2,000 guns turned into police.
About 500 guns were collected during a similar program in 2013.
Saunders said the buyback program was part of a wider plan to reduce the number of guns on the streets that could be used in a crime.
“When you talk about the City of Toronto, when we talk about most of the shooting occurrences, 90 per cent plus are handguns,” he said. “Not giving the criminal entity access to those firearms because we have them, is fantastic.
At the news conference, a number of guns that had been collected during the buyback program were on display, including an Uzi submachine gun, an Ingram MAC-10 submachine gun, three semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifles, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a number of semi-automatic handguns.
“Some of these guns were designed primarily for a criminal use,” Saunders said. “When we have a sawed-off shotgun, when we have two Uzis sitting at the table, when we have those types of weapons, firearms with serial numbers removed, these are guns for criminal purposes.”
Under the program, residents were able to receive compensation for turning in their firearms. Participants will recieve $200 for long guns and $350 for handguns.
The city is expected to spend about $750,000 verifying and destroying the guns collected.
