Five churches will host gun turn-in program Saturday
Patrick Flanigan
Staff writer
(May 29, 2006) — Rochester police and members of the clergy will be working out the final details this week to launch a citywide gun turn-in program at five churches on Saturday.
"We want to reach the parents and grandparents of these kids who are carrying guns and solving their problems with guns," said the Rev. Deloris Simpson, the youth pastor at the First Genesis Missionary Baptist Church on Hudson Avenue. "We want them to know we want a safe community and we're tired of seeing our young people getting shot and shooting each other.
"Most of our killings are caused by guns, and we're saying enough is enough."
Simpson is a member of the Police Department's Clergy Response Team and coordinator of the gun turn-in. The department plans to set up five turn-in points from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and will give people the opportunity to dispose of illegal guns without fear of arrest on a firearms charge.
No money will be offered for the guns. Gun buy-back programs have been attempted in the past with disappointing results because they tend to yield old and broken guns that aren't likely to be used in crimes.
Simpson said many parents and grandparents know youths in their homes are carrying guns, and this program gives them a chance to do something about it before the youths are killed or arrested.
She noted that District Attorney Mike Green has adopted a policy of not offering plea deals that don't result in state prison time on gun charges.
"You're not going to get a slap on the wrist if you get caught with a gun," she said.
Green said the turn-in program is a good way to reinforce the message that Rochester won't tolerate illegal guns on the streets — the primary goal of his policy.
"In order for this to work, we have to have buy-in from the community," Green said. "If we only get one gun off the street Saturday, it'll be a successful day because that's a gun that might have been used in a homicide."
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