County, Police, and Church Pair Up for Gun Buyback Event in Southfield Dec. 9

County, Police, and Church Pair Up for Gun Buyback Event in Southfield Dec. 9

(Elizabeth Schanz, Dec. 7, 2023)

Southfield, Mich.- St. David’s Episcopal Church, co-sponsored by the Southfield Police, is holding a Gun BuyBack event on Dec. 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church.

The Gun BuyBack event offers people in the Southfield and wider Michigan community a safe way to remove unwanted firearms from their homes in exchange for gift card incentives. Beyond giving an outlet for gun owners to exchange their weapons, the organizers of the event hope that the Gun BuyBack will contribute to wider safety goals in the community by preventing suicide, accidents with weapons, and misplaced or stolen firearms.

After witnessing the effects of gun violence in local communities with the mass shootings at Michigan State University, Oxford High School and across the country, Reverend Chris Yaw of St. David’s Episcopal Church felt the need to work toward further safety in his community.

“I’m a pastor. I’m not a crime fighter. I’m looking to protect people who are vulnerable,” said Reverend Chris Yaw of St. David’s Episcopal Church.

A Pew Research Center article said the CDC recorded that “In 2021, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (26,328), while 43% were murders (20,958).” Michigan has the 25th-highest rate of gun deaths in the U.S. with an average 1,382 gun-inflicted deaths, according to Everytown.

“You know ‘thoughts and prayers’ as they put it are really important in a priest’s life and for the congregation to do, but I think we get sick and tired of just praying and thinking ‘Oh, maybe things will change on their own,’” Yaw said. “Gun buybacks are not the answer because when you have a complicated problem there’s never one answer. It’s part of the answer because it’s going take a million parts to get it taken care of.”

Yaw said the idea for this year’s BuyBack was sparked from the success of the BuyBack held last year hosted at St. David’s Episcopal Church. In 2022 Oakland County held this first buyback with police departments in Auburn Hills, Berkley, Bloomfield Townships, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Lathrup Village and Southfield.

In the initial planning, Yaw suggested hosting one of the locations for the buyback at his church proposing it as a place where people may feel more comfortable than a police department.

“We offered $5,000 of gift cards [at last year’s event]. And the line went from our church, nearly two miles to Woodward Avenue. We gave away $5,000 of gift cards in less than 20 minutes,” Yaw said.

Yaw wanted to emphasize that people participating in the event are willing participants and that the Gun BuyBack is not about taking weapons but people’s willingness to give them. He said many people who participated in the event last year had many different reasons for turning in their unwanted firearms like inheriting guns and having guns on hand they didn’t want.

“So what do when we have a system that’s really good at getting guns out but not taking them back? We want to prove that there is actually an appetite to take them back,” Yaw said.

Yaw felt the engagement and interest in the first buyback demonstrated the opportunity hosting another event could have. To prepare for the Dec. 9 event, the church has $15,000 worth of gift cards to give out and they are continuing to raise money on St. David’s Episcopal Church’s website.

Participants and organizers of the event will follow the following rules and guidelines:

• Weapons must be unloaded and put in the trunk of the vehicle.
• Participants will present identification information upon the exchange.
• Law enforcement officers will remove firearms as attendees stay in the vehicle.
• Participants will receive a gift card to either Target or Meijer for a dollar amount that corresponds with the functioning firearm that is turned in.
  • $200 for assault rifles.
  • $100 for handguns.
  • $50 for long guns: shotguns, rifles, or similar styles.
  • There is a $300 exchange limit per vehicle. However, there is no limit on how many firearms can be turned in.
• Ammunition will also be accepted on-site.

Following the event, the Southfield Police Department will process the turned-in weapons. They will check the serial numbers to determine if the firearms are linked to any crimes. After the serial number check, the weapons will either be sent to the Oakland County Crime Lab for further testing or to be destroyed.

Additionally, the Southfield Police Department will be taking part in the event by initiating gun safety discussions and passing out gun locks for other firearms that people may have at home.

“It is my hope that through this event that we can prevent a tragedy through education, by providing gun locks to those who need them [participants] and by providing a safe location for citizens to turn in their unwanted guns,” said Lieutenant Teresa Young, a Southfield Police officers overseeing the event.

Partnerships from local officials like Oakland County Commissioner Charlie Cavell and Oakland County Executive David Coulter and law enforcement like Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren make the event possible, Yaw said.

Yaw hopes this year’s Gun BuyBack event shows there is a greater interest in gun buybacks in the future. He aims to expand the resources to make gun buybacks possible such as creating a greater capacity to store and destroy turned-in guns in police stations and have funding for gun buyback incentives.

Yaw said one of his goals for these events is to reduce the number of firearms in circulation and turn, promote safer homes and communities.

St. Davids is located at 16200 W. 12 Mile Road.  More info: Facebook