Coordinated Gun Buyback Program Has Successful Launch, Organizers Hope to Repeat and Expand in 2022

More than 500 guns were purchased and 350 gun safes were distributed on a Saturday in October in Connecticut, in what was billed as the first Statewide Gun Buyback.  Participating communities, under the umbrella of the #KeepKids Safe initiative, included Bridgeport, Guilford, Hartford, Newtown, Norwalk, Stamford and Waterbury in what organizers believe will become an annual event, with a growing roster of communities becoming involved across the state.

The initiative sought to raise awareness of the dangers of unsecured guns, to “get conversations started in families and to get people thinking about it,” explained Kristin Miller Song, among the organizers of the effort.

Throughout the day, in community after community, individuals shared “incredible stories” behind their motivation to turn in a gun or obtain a gun safe, according to organizers.  Guns turned in included many handguns, as well as some assault rifles, representatives of the sponsoring organizations explained.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a gun-free home is the safest home for children and teens. Having a gun in the home doubles an individual’s risk for homicide and triples the risk of suicide. If guns are present in the home, they must be safely stored to help prevent firearm deaths and injuries, program organizers stressed.

The voluntary gun buyback and safe firearm storage events provided an opportunity for gun owners to safely remove their unwanted weapons from their homes and communities, and promoted gun safety and safe firearm storage. For gun owners who want to keep their guns but seek a responsible way to better secure their weapons, a limited supply of biometric gun safes were provided free of charge to those with a valid gun permit.

Participating organizations were led by the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation and the Ethan Miller Song Foundation, and included Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Saint Francis Hospital, CT Against Gun Violence Education Fund, Swords to Plowshares Northeast, Wilton Quaker Meeting, CT Violence Intervention Program, Mothers United Against Violence, Tears for Triumph, Violent Crime Survivors, Guilford Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Newtown Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, and Waterbury Police Department.

The buyback program provided gift cards, ranging from $25 to $200, to individuals who turned in an operable firearm. Many communities in Connecticut have held successful gun buyback events in the past, some for multiple years, but this was the first coordinated statewide effort in recent memory.

The Campaign to Keep Kids Safe (CKKS) was established by the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation and the Ethan Miller Song Foundation as an educational program for parents, educators and healthcare professionals to reduce unintentional shootings among children and childhood gun suicides and homicides in America; to provide gun safes to gun owners; and promote community gun buyback opportunities.

Gun Buyback programs, mostly at the municipal level, have a history in Connecticut that began nearly three decades ago with an overwhelming response in 1994, when then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, with the support of the Connecticut Retail Merchants Association and the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, launched the nation’s first statewide program. 

 “This is your opportunity to safely turn them in, no matter where you live in Connecticut, and ensure that that gun doesn’t end up stolen and used in a crime or found and used in a tragic accident,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said during a news conference prior to the buyback program this fall.

The gun buyback and gun safe storage giveaway day is an important community safety initiative that will help gun owners and their family members to dispose of unwanted and/or unsecured guns to help reduce the risk of homicides, suicides, unintentional shootings, domestic violence, and keep guns from getting into the wrong hands - such as children, individuals who may be facing a mental health crisis, individuals with dementia, perpetrators of domestic violence, and criminals, program organizers explained.

In addition to police departments that participated, a number of hospitals also took part – all organizations on the frontlines that “experience the heartache of gun violence” first-hand.  Organizers point out that family dynamics change over time, and guns that may once have been stored and handled properly and safely may not be putting people, particularly youth, at risk.

Ethan Miller Song Foundation was formed to honor Ethan Miller Song. Ethan died in his best friend’s house. Unbeknownst to Ethan’s parents the best friend’s father stored three unsecured guns with the ammunition in a shoebox. Ethan was killed on January 31, 2018; he had just turned 15-years-old. The Ethan Miller Song Foundation’s mission is to develop and support programs and causes that keep kids safe, rescue abused/neglected animals and honor our veterans - all things close to Ethan’s heart. A Connecticut law that passed in the state legislature at the urging of his family in the wake of Ethan’s tragic death, now requires all firearms, loaded and unloaded, to be safely stored in homes occupied by minors under 18. Similar legislation has been proposed at the federal level.

The strong response to the coordinated buyback this year effort has already resulted in the start of plans to conduct the buyback effort again next year, with additional organizations participating in communities in more locations throughout the state.