Crime & Safety

Gun Buyback Nets 1,500 Firearms in Hudson, Union Counties

A total of 1,599 guns, including more than 150 illegal guns, were taken off the streets in Hudson and Union counties this weekend during a state-sponsored gun buyback event.

The illegal guns included two MAC-10 assault weapons with high-capacity magazines, an SKS assault rifle similar to an AK-47, an Uzi, a Savage Arms 12-gauge shotgun, and a Universal Firearms M1 30-Caliber military-style rifle, according to Acting Attorney General John Hoffman.

“It is truly sobering to see the array of deadly firearms collected here today,” Hoffman said.  “Were it not for our buyback, all of these firearms—the vast majority of them operable—would still be out there with the potential to be stolen, to fall tragically into the hands of a curious child, or to be stashed in a central location and used by criminals as so-called community guns.”

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Those who turned in their weapons during the “no questions asked” buyback were paid up to $250 per gun, with a maximum yield of three guns per person.

For the two-day event, a total of $228,725 was spent—$145,950 in Union County, $82,775 in Hudson County.

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“The buyback effort here in Hudson and Union Counties was a success by any measure,” Hoffman said. “We helped make communities safer by getting lethal firearms off the streets.”

In total, more than 14,000 guns have been collected through New Jersey’s buyback initiative, according to Hoffman.

Guns were purchased using criminal forfeiture funds provided by the Attorney General’s Office through its Division of Criminal Justice. Hudson and Union county prosecutors’ offices, Union County Sheriff’s Office and Union County Police Department also provided forfeiture funds. Hudson-based CarePoint Health also donated funds to support the buyback.

“What we’ve found is that these buybacks both energize and galvanize communities, and they help to build a bond of trust between neighborhoods and law enforcement,” Hoffman said.  “All of this can only help as we move forward and, in the future, continue to address not only the gun violence issue, but other public safety concerns as well.” 


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