THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 7, 1994 TAG: 9409070404
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Want to throw a free pizza party for some friends? Wait until next month and give the Norfolk police a gun.
Convinced that gun buyback programs help reduce crime by taking weapons off the street, Norfolk is launching another such effort Oct. 29, Chief Melvin High said Tuesday.
In December 1991, Norfolk police spent $39,720 to buy nearly 1,100 firearms from the public.
The difference this year is that the city won't spend a penny for the guns. Goods for Guns Inc., a Virginia Beach organization formed this year, is contributing $23,000 worth of gift certificates that Norfolk will hand out in exchange for the guns.
Many of the gift certificates will be from Farm Fresh grocery stores and Pizza Hut.
Six other cities and counties in the area ran a simultaneous Goods for Guns buyback last May and collected 1,019 guns, which were later melted down into paperweights.
``We expect to receive 400 to 500 firearms,'' High said. ``This also is a symbolic gesture to our citizens to promote understanding of the problem with guns.''
In April, the city endorsed the plans of Goods for Guns and its founder, Archer B. Crittenden, to acquire guns from the public across the region. But Norfolk postponed holding another buyback program until it decided how to handle the problem of illegally held automatic weapons.
On Tuesday, High said that if police receive an automatic weapon during the buyback, they will investigate the owner and how he or she acquired it.
``If a parent comes in with an illegal weapon that they took from their children or other loved ones, we would not seek prosecution in a case like that,'' High said.
But if police suspect that the person turning in an illegal weapon is the owner, he said, they may refer the case to the commonwealth's attorney.
Norfolk police will swap $25 worth of gift certificates for each ``long gun'' - rifle, shotgun or similar weapon. They will give $50 worth of certificates for each handgun.
Gift certificates will not be exchanged for BB guns, pellet guns, black powder guns and blank or starter pistols. Those guns will be accepted for destruction.
The buyback will take place at the 2nd Patrol Division, 7635 Sewells Point Road. by CNB