The city of Richmond will partner with a California-based nonprofit group to launch a gun buyback program later this year.
As the city continues to grapple with shootings and a rise in homicides, Mayor Levar Stoney and other city officials are hoping the program will reduce the number of firearms on the street by allowing gun owners to surrender weapons they own in exchange for gift cards.
The council voted unanimously Monday night to adopt the grant contract with The Robby Poblete Foundation.
Under the terms of the grant agreement, the city will allocate $83,050 to the foundation to administer the program.
While the Richmond Police Department will be responsible for taking the firearms, the foundation will use $67,500 to buy the gift cards. The agreement does not say how much will be paid for each firearm. A spokeswoman for the city administration said the amount will depend on the type of firearm, but did not specify a range.
People are also reading…
While the council approved the grant contract along with other ostensibly non-controversial items in a single bloc vote, a few council members said they were still unsure of how it would work and whether it can efficiently reduce violent crime.
Ninth District Councilman Michael Jones said he fears that they could “be on the hook” if it does not, and that it would open them to public accusations of inaction.
Reva Trammell, who represents the city’s 8th District, questioned whether the gift cards could be used to buy new guns. Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders said participants will not be able to do so with the cards that are purchased.
A few officials spoke in favor of the ordinance, which was expected to pass as five of the nine council members had already signed on as co-patrons ahead of Monday’s meeting.
“We know that there is no silver bullet solution to the gun violence epidemic ... including this gun buyback program,” said Councilwoman Ann-Frances Lambert. “But if executed properly, we can save lives.”
A man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in a May 6 crash near the National Theater downtown that fatally injured a pedestrian.
The Robby Poblete Foundation, founded by the mother of a man slain in Vallejo, Calif., in 2014, has worked with a handful of communities on gun buyback programs. The organization’s website says it has collected nearly 1,400 guns at buyback events in Augusta, Ga.; San Francisco; and other California localities.
Stoney and other officials have said gun violence prevention is a top priority for the city.
The funding for the grant contract will be drawn from $500,000 the city has allocated from its federal American Rescue Plan Act allotment for “gun buy back events and responsible gun ownership education,” according to a memo from the mayor’s office.
The city has also allocated $1 million from the COVID-19 pandemic aid package to the nonprofit NextUp to support after-school programs.
Although politicians nationwide have been discussing new violence prevention efforts and gun control measures after the school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Stoney first announced the city’s plans for the gun buyback program in his State of the City address in February.
In addition to Richmond, the city of Portsmouth is planning to hold its own gun buyback event on June 25.