Seventy less guns on the street today

It’s been ten years since the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department has been able to fund and hold a gun buyback event.

With the help and sponsorship of ALPACT, they were able to collect around seventy guns at two different locations. One in Niles and the other in Benton Harbor.

People were to bring their guns, whether they were functioning or not and with no questions asked they received a fifty-dollar Wal-Mart gift card.

One man saw this as an opportunity to add to his personal collection.

Doug Boal calls himself a gun enthusiast, “Collect them, keep them, shoot them, personal protection.”

He said guns save lives and that is why he attended the buyback event, “Legal citizens carry guns because guns save lives.”

Boal wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to buy antique-like guns for relatively cheap, “She may very well be giving away a two, three, four-hundred dollar gun for fifty dollars. Your gun, your money.”

Inside, Sergeant Cory Peek was happy with the turnout, “We’ve got a lot of guns, a lot of handguns. Get them off the street.”

They might see some stolen guns, some that don’t work, and even some that belong to those who have passed away, “Might see grandpa’s old gun in the closet and might commit a crime with it. Maybe someone breaks into a person’s house, an elderly person’s house and commits a crime with that.”

The sheriff’s said it is one less opportunity for a crime to occur, because they will destroy them after today.

No matter what the intentions of the men today, both agree that this is perfect opportunity to get the guns out of criminal’s hands, “Laws never stopped a criminal from doing anything.”

The sheriff’s department said they always accept guns on a “no questions asked” bases.