Crime & Safety
77 Rifles, Dozens Of Other Guns Collected In Hoboken Buyback
Weeks after a Hoboken athlete and teacher's aide was shot to death, the mile-square city collected more than 100 guns.
HOBOKEN, NJ — The city of Hoboken collected 166 firearms on Saturday during a gun buyback program announced in response to the fatal shooting last month of scholar/athlete Damon Murray.
Among the guns that the city collected were: 77 rifles/shotguns, 72 handguns (semi-automatic/revolver), 10 illegal weapons (handgun/assault rifle/sawed-off shotgun), seven inoperable weapons and others.
The city paid up to $350 per gun at police headquarters on Hudson Street on Saturday ($40 for those that didn't work) The program ran from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Find out what's happening in Hobokenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, Public Safety Director Ken Ferrante, and Police Chief Steven Aguiar announced the numbers late Monday, saying the buyback was "held in an effort to reduce the potential for gun violence in and around Hoboken."
“Damon Murray's tragic passing was a painful reminder of the impact of gun violence on our community, and I'm happy we are taking strong measures to take guns off our streets,” said Mayor Bhalla. “Thank you to the Hoboken Police Department, Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, and Attorney General Matthew Platkin for working with my administration to host this successful buyback program.”
Find out what's happening in Hobokenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“The gun buyback exceeded all of our expectations, and I thank all of those involved in organizing, approving, and operating the successful event,” said Director Ferrante. “We managed to secure dozens of firearms that otherwise could have been stolen and used in a crime or been accidentally found and fired by a child.”
“We may not be able to end gun violence, but we have to do everything in our power to try to get illegal and unwanted guns out of our community,” said Police Chief Aguiar.
Participants were asked to register in advance by either signing up online here: https://hoboken.seamlessdocs.com/f/gunbuyback,
picking up a form at HPD headquarters, or printing out a form at www.hobokenpdnj.gov.
Anyone with questions about the gun buyback can call HPD Headquarters at 201-420-2100 x 3155.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
