Gun Buyback Program So Successful in North Texas, It Had to End

Looks like one police department did not expect this kind of turnout. It was supposed to last four days, but ended after just one.

People may disagree with me on this, but I am a big fan of when police departments do this. Entirely voluntary and you typically get something for donating an unwanted gun. Over in Fort Worth yesterday, it was day one of a gun buyback drive. This means you turn over any unwanted gun, no questions asked and you receive a $100 gift card.

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It was supposed to wrap up on Thursday, but they ran out of gift cards in just a couple of hours. 112 firearms were turned over. Everything from handguns to rifles. Almost every make and model was represented they said. The Fort Worth police department has done similar programs throughout the past, but never have had a turnout like this.

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"Maybe was inherited, maybe just lying around. They had no use for and they didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands or the hands of a child," said Commander Dave Carabaja. "We respect everybody's rights, everyone that came in here voluntarily and they got something out of it."

All of the weapons voluntarily surrendered to Fort Worth police will be destroyed sooner than later. None of the weapons will be put back into circulation. None of the funds used to purchase the gift cards came from taxpayer money. The program uses confiscated money for gun buyback events.

We will see if another one in the future is as successful as this one.