A Canandaigua City Council committee is set to discuss the possibility of a city-sponsored gun buyback program at a meeting today, but several city staffers have already weighed in against it.
Staff: Gun buyback programs don’t recover guns used in homicides
The Finger Lakes Times reports Mayor Bob Palumbo asked the council to consider a gun buyback program in the wake of incidents of gun violence around the country. Both the Canandaigua Police Department and Ontario County Sheriff’s Department offer gun dropoff programs, but neither pays for guns that are dropped off. A city staff representative is expected to tell the committee that a buyback program would mean paying for the same weapons that are already being taken off the street for free. Staff members also say buybacks rarely remove weapons used in homicides and suicides.
The City Council Planning Committee and the Finance Committee both meet tonight at 7 in the City Council chambers.
Related: What’s included in New York’s controversial new gun law?
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