Bedford’s Ongoing Gun Buyback Program

By Jeffrey Epstein

The February 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL has renewed interest in a Bedford gun buyback program that has been around for years and is still ongoing.

Bedford residents who have unwanted weapons, such as old rifles owned by a deceased family member, can turn them in by pre-arrangement with the Bedford Police Department and be eligible for a rebate up to $50. (The police caution that the weapons should not be hand-carried into the police station, and an officer will collect the firearm). The program is voluntary.

The gun buyback program started in 2013 as the result of an initiative from local church communities, including The First Parish in Bedford, Unitarian/Universalist. In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook, CT school shooting, “a small group met to see what actions we might take,” said John Gibbons, the church’s senior minister. The group raised about $1,000 to fund the rebates, said Don Marshall, another individual involved. Police Chief Robert Bongiorno agreed to administer the program.

Get The Bedford Citizen in your inbox!



The publicity around the launch led to “significant numbers” of guns turned in, Gibbons said, and the program has never stopped, although it has apparently received less attention in the years since. Chief Bongiorno confirmed to The Citizen that the program still has funds for rebates.

Other communities, said Marshall, are eyeing the Bedford program as a useful tool to collect unwanted guns, in an effort to prevent accidental household shootings.

While this specific buyback program “is a step in the right direction,” said Gibbons, he personally favors control or banning of the type of assault rifles used in the Parkland, FL incident that left 17 students dead and others wounded. Many high school students, including some in Bedford, say they will conduct a public walkout on March 14 to further public debate over this idea. Similar rallies and protests are anticipated across the nation.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

All Stories

What’s Bedford Thinking about the Red Sox?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Junior Landscaping
Go toTop