Nassau authorities holding gun buyback in Long Beach on Saturday
Guns from a buyback program at Grace Cathedral in Uniondale are shown in this 2013 photo. Credit: Jim Staubitser
Nassau County authorities are holding a gun buyback Saturday in Long Beach, two weeks after a 28-year-old man was fatally shot in the city.
The event will be held at Christian Light Baptist Church, 620 Park Place, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Authorities said they will pay $100 to $400 for each illegal weapon: $100 for rifles, $200 for handguns and $400 for assault rifles. Gun owners may remain anonymous.
Weapons cannot be licensed or loaded. They must be transported in the trunk or rear of a vehicle and be presented in either a shoe box or bag.
The buyback program does not pay for inoperable guns, BB guns, air pistols or replicas, officials said.
Asset forfeiture funds -- money seized by authorities as part of criminal investigations -- are being used to pay for the event.
Buybacks have taken almost 3,500 guns off Nassau streets in recent years, said Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
Saturday's buyback comes after the Sept. 27 killing of Tyrenzo Brown, who was shot near a Long Beach public housing complex. Antonio Webb, 22, of Long Beach, has been charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the slaying.
Officials said the buyback aims to prevent those types of crimes.
"By removing these weapons from our neighborhoods, we eliminate the possibility of them being used in crimes or even accidental shootings in the home," Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement.
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