THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, July 30, 1994                TAG: 9407300239
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                       LENGTH: Short :   47 lines

SHIPYARD MELTS TURNED-IN GUNS INTO KEEPSAKE PAPERWEIGHTS

Instead of beating swords into plowshares, the foundry at Newport News Shipbuilding will be turning guns into paperweights today.

Volunteers from the shipyard will melt down 1,019 guns collected this spring in Hampton Roads' weapons trade-in program and cast them into an estimated 100 metal mementos, yard spokesman Mike Hatfield said.

The 4-inch-by-2-inch paperweights will be distributed to organizers and sponsors of the Goods for Guns program.

Under the program, local police in Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Surry County and Elizabeth City, N.C., collected weapons, ranging from .22-caliber handguns to sawed-off shotguns and a fully automatic assault rifle, in exchange for gift certificates, according to Capt. Ernest F. Buzzy of the Virginia Beach Police Department.

Handguns were worth $50 gift certificates to area stores, while rifles were worth $25 certificates. The Newport News resident who brought in the assault rifle got a $100 certificate, Buzzy said.

Eighty percent of the guns collected came from Virginia Beach, Newport News and Hampton, according to Anne Cordts, director of special projects at WAVY-TV, one of the program's sponsors.

Goods for Guns, initiated by Virginia Beach businessman Archer Crittenden and WAVY, was designed to get unwanted weapons out of homes where they could found by children or stolen in burglaries, Crittenden said. ``We believe we took away guns that were later headed for disaster,'' he said.

The program wasn't targeted at criminals, Buzzy said.

``We're not naive enough to think criminals would turn in their guns for $50.''

Local police volunteers and shipyard foundry workers will begin removing plastic and wood stocks from the guns about 7:30 a.m.

An hour later, the shipyard will fire up its furnaces, normally used for casting parts for aircraft carriers and power plants, and start melting the guns. By noon, foundry workers will pour the molten metal into paperweight molds. All the guns should be paperweights by 4 p.m.

KEYWORDS: GOODS FOR GUNS GUN EXCHANGE by CNB