Jacksonville's fourth next gun buy-back event is scheduled for later this month, and this event will be different from the last three.Delores Barr Weaver has agreed to match the amount for each gun turned in with a donation to the local Police Athletic League.
Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford made the announcement Tuesday.
“So citizens who turn their gun in, they will receive $50 cash and PAL will receive $50 cash. And, additionally, Delores has set a goal in this next round of buy-backs of 2,050 guns,” he said.
Rutherford said Weaver has pledged up to $135,000 to reach that goal. An additional $70,000 dollars will come from the sheriff’s department.
Weaver said the idea of donating to PAL came out of the December 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, in which nearly two dozen children were killed.
“You know that, throughout my lifetime here in Jacksonville, it’s been all about children," she said. "Sandy Hook just made an impression on me that I couldn’t leave go anymore so I felt like I had to find a way to do something.”
Rutherford says the three previous gun buy-backs brought in 2,035 unwanted guns, 33 of which were listed as stolen.
The gun buy-back is set for Saturday, June 28, at North Jacksonville Baptist Church on Main Street.
You can follow Cyd Hoskinson on Twitter @cydwjctnews.
