HCSO collects more than 600 guns during gun swap event
TAMPA, Fla. - Hillsborough County residents had the chance on Saturday to drop off their unwanted guns safely during the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office’s Drive and Drop Gun Swap.
It’s an event designed to help gun owners get rid of their firearms safely and responsibly. Hundreds of guns were handed over to HCSO during Saturday’s event.
"If you have that unwanted firearm, and it could be for whatever reason- you're worried about it falling into the hands of a child, maybe the wrong person that's going to commit additional crimes, maybe you inherited a firearm and you just don't want it in your home. It's a voluntary program for you to come and safely dispose of your firearms,” explained Sheriff Chad Chronister with HCSO.
There was no paperwork to fill out and no questions asked. HCSO deputies unloaded the guns from cars, sending the owners on their way with $50 per gun relinquished.
"It offers a safe avenue to safely dispose of those firearms that you just don't want,” said Sheriff Chronister.
For some, the firearms were left behind by a loved one who passed away. That was the case for Charles Ferguson who stopped by to part ways with his late father's guns.
"I'm dropping off a couple of pistols we found in my dad's collection. He passed away a number of years ago. We have no idea where he got them. We have no idea how they came about. But I have no use for them and I would rather get rid of them in a better way than just throwing them in the trash,” said Charles Ferguson who dropped off a gun Saturday.
Jean Chunko also waited in line to hand off her gun as she wanted to make sure it didn’t end up in the wrong hands.
"We don't have any children because they're older and that, they're all in Michigan, but you don't want to keep the gun in the house and have someone get hurt,” Chunko said.
The guns collected will eventually be destroyed, but before that can happen, deputies ran one last check to make sure the guns weren’t stolen.
"We've already recovered two stolen firearms, one here in Tampa from the 1990s and one in Indiana,” said Sheriff Chronister Saturday morning. “We'll make every effort to return those to the rightful owner. The rest of them will be melted down, turned into rebar and used for construction, hopefully right here in the Tampa Bay area. “
In total, HCSO collected 681 guns, six of which were found to be stolen.
If you missed the event but have a gun to get rid of, HCSO will still take that gun and dispose of it free of charge.