SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - Officials said guns collected during a recent buyback event will be destroyed instead of recycled.
220 guns, 87 long guns and 133 handguns, were collected during a buyback at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield on Dec. 9. Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said GunBusters, a company that provides free gun destruction for law enforcement, is going to take the guns apart free of charge.
"GunBusters decided that, after seeing our story and hearing our concerns, that they would absorb the cost of destroying all of the guns collected during the gun buyback process in Southfield," Barron said.
While this is good news for the community, who were “shocked” at the news that the guns wouldn’t be destroyed, Barron said there was more work to be done to guarantee all guns in the state are destroyed after a buyback event.
"This was a shock to a lot of people,” Barron said. “Not only community members, but also law enforcement. I, along with some of my colleagues, did not know of a GunBusters, and did not know that guns that were taken in were not destroyed in their entirety."
Barron said that both the Michigan State Police and legislators are looking into the concerns being raised, and that it may be worth exploring “alternative solutions” to address the issue.