SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – The marquis outside St. David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield shows 224 weapons were surrendered during a gun buyback program over the weekend.
The volume of weapons community members voluntarily surrendered included pistols, long guns, and assault rifles.
However, the church’s rector now has some concerns.
“The big reason people came in line and gave their weapons to us is to be destroyed, not recycled,” said The Very Reverend Chris Yaw.
This week, Yaw said he decided to speak out after receiving a call from an investigative reporter in New York who uncovered guns being voluntarily surrendered during buyback programs, like the one at St. David’s Episcopal on Saturday (Dec. 9), may not be destroyed in the State of Michigan the way the community perceives.
“People are angry,” The Very Reverend Yaw said. “I’m frustrated. I’m appalled.”
It is an issue that also caught Southfield police Chief Elvin Barren by surprise.
“It was a company called GunBusters who takes those guns in for destruction,” Barren said he learned. “But they’re able to salvage certain parts and put them back into service and build other weapons.”
Barren explained when citizens surrender a weapon, officers will run the serial number. Any stolen weapons are put in evidence for respective police departments to investigate.
The remaining weapons are sent to the county sheriff for ballistics. The guns that are cleared are sent to Michigan State Police for proper disposal, he said.
A statement issued by Michigan State Police said:
“The Michigan State Police is committed to upholding Michigan’s recently updated gun violence prevention laws and to getting illegal guns off the streets so they cannot be used in a commission of a crime. All firearms surrendered to the MSP are turned over to GunBusters to be destroyed in accordance with the ATF’s acceptable destruction procedures that require the destruction of the frame or receiver so the firearm can no longer be used. We receive video proof of this occurring for every firearm. The MSP is among 950 agencies from across the country that utilize GunBusters’ services.”
Michigan State Police
Local gun buyback program organizers like The Very Reverend Yaw and Chief Barren said they expect more transparency for public trust.
“It’s a little bit disappointing,” Barren said. “Because, when I do a gun buyback, I tell the community members the guns will be destroyed in their entirety. So, now, I found out that wasn’t necessarily accurate.”
Both Yaw and Barren said they agree that moving forward, they’ll be asking that guns collected from buyback programs be destroyed in the interest of transparency and community engagement.
Barren anticipates some conversations will continue between local police agencies and Michigan State Police.