Gun Amnesty Day promotes safe ways to store and discard firearms
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Lincoln Police Department hosted its eighth annual Gun Amnesty Day Saturday, providing the community with ways to safely dispose of unwanted firearms.
People were encouraged to their guns and ammunition to the anonymous drive-thru, where police would catalog the firearms and dispose of them later.
“These are guns people don’t want, and so just allowing them to get rid of them in a safe way is what we’re doing today,” said LPD investigator Melissa Ripley
The organization, HopeLNK, handed out free lock boxes and cable trigger locks at the event to promote the safe storage of guns in homes.
“We’ve all seen the school shootings lately where kids are getting access to guns,” Ripley said. “All it takes is safe storage to prevent that from happening, and so that’s what we encourage people to do.”
One volunteer believed one of the main causes of gun violence and suicide was untreated mental illnesses. “Mental health is very treatable,” said volunteer Dr. Dave Miers. “There are so many different forms of treatment available in Lincoln and across the state.”
LPD reported 35 guns were surrendered, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition. They also gave out almost 100 lock boxes and cable locks.
“The more we can do as a community to bring awareness to mental health and suicide, the more we are going to help prevent violence,” Miers said.
