City's Gun Buyback Nets 45 Weapons

Evanston residents turned in a total of 45 firearms during a gun buyback program held this Saturday at Christ Temple MB Church, police said. 

Of those weapons, 26 were handguns, 15 were rifles and four were shotguns, according to a press release from the police department. Several people also turned in ammunition and BB guns, police said. 

Speaking to Patch on Saturday, Police Chief Richard Eddington said he considered the program a success.

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“We’ve gotten guns that people weren’t comfortable having,” he said, adding that unsecured guns can lead to accidents that kill or injure children. “If we take these unsecured guns out of circulation, we’ll prevent these accidental shootings."

When they’re not properly stored in a safe, guns are also a prime target for burglars, Eddington said. 

“If you’re in the house for a minute, these are extremely valuable items to criminals,” he said. 

While the program was designed to get guns off the streets, Eddington said he hoped it would have a secondary effect: building credibility for the police in the community. As officials had promised, the gun buyback was operated as an amnesty program, meaning no one was arrested, even if they turned in a weapon for which they did not have legal ownership. Police did determine that one handgun they received had been reported stolen from a nearby suburb two years ago, but no further action will be taken according to the press release.

“It is a building block to our continuing drive to obtain and maintain credibility in the community,” said Eddington.

According to police, the weapons will be inventoried and photographed before they are ultimately destroyed.

The gun buyback program was spearheaded by Carolyn Murray, a longtime community activist whose 19-year-old son, Justin Murray, was shot and killed in Evanston Nov. 29. Murray actually started trying to organize the program this summer. When 14-year-old Dajae Coleman was shot and killed in September, the city got behind her efforts, and a date was set: Dec. 15.

In the three months between Coleman’s death and this Saturday’s gun buyback, there have been two more fatal shootings, including Justin’s death, and one shooting that left a 20-year-old Evanston man hospitalized in critical condition. Then, on Friday—the day before the gun buyback was scheduled—, killing 26 people, most of them children.

Murray says that she would have been happy with one fewer gun on the streets, but the results were a step in the right direction. 

“We no longer live in Mayberry,” Murray said on Saturday. “Our town needs a makeover. Churches, parents, the community, the police—we need to come together.”

The gun buyback program, she said, was just one part of what Evanston could be doing to prevent further violent deaths. A longtime member of the West Evanston Strategic Team community group, Murray said change must start block by block. 

“I would like people to get involved in their community, in their block,” she said. “If you weren’t active before, now is the time to start.”

Police offered $100 in cash per gun for up to two guns, .

Some $4,500 was paid out during the gun buyback, and approximately $15,000 remains, according to Cmdr. Jason Parrott, a spokesperson for the Evanston Police Department.

“The police department along with city officials are in the process of determining the best course of action to utilize left over funds for a continued effort in reducing firearms being illegally carried on the streets of Evanston,” Parrott said.