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The number of weapons turned in drops dramatically from last year despite better weather.
By AMY WIMMER
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 16, 2001
LARGO -- Call it bad timing.
Last year, area law enforcement agencies held the annual gun buyback program on the same day that Hurricane Gordon hit the Tampa Bay area with heavy rain and gusty winds. This year, the event came days after terrorist attacks left a nation stunned and sent people scurrying to gun shops to purchase firearms and ammunition.
On Saturday morning, despite relatively nice weather and substantial promotion of the gun buyback program, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office collected 295 firearms.
Even last year, when people couldn't roll down their car windows to talk to deputies without getting rained on, residents turned over 650 guns.
"We did better than we thought we'd do, under the circumstances," Sheriff's Capt. Frank Holloway said.
On the bright side, sheriff's officials say, 295 more guns are now out of the hands of people who didn't want them around anymore. Hillsborough collected 369, less than half of last year's total. Law enforcement agencies in Manatee, Polk and Sarasota counties also participated.
In Pinellas, the Sheriff's Office and Largo Police Department also distributed free Master gun locks for people who were turning in guns but had others at home.
Many of the guns collected were shotguns and revolvers that were old and in disrepair but could still be dangerous in the wrong hands.
"These guns that we're taking in don't stop crime," Holloway said. "What they stop is little kids getting out a gun and getting hurt."
The gun buyback program, called Cease Fire Tampa Bay, began in 1998, and agencies have collected 6,954 guns since then. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office began participating last year.
This year, people who turned in guns received $50 gift certificates from either Winn-Dixie food stores, Beall's Department Stores or Beall's Outlet Stores.
On Wednesday, the day after planes hijacked by terrorists hit targets in New York City and Washington, D.C., the Professional Gun Retailers Association reported skyrocketing gun and ammunition sales.
Sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita said he did not expect Saturday's gun buyback to be successful because of the timing. "There's a lot of public caution, for lack of a better word," Tita said.
Tita said a friend of his suggested this week he might buy a gun for his family's protection. Tita urged him not to: "You really don't need a gun to be secure," he said.
"I think a lot of it has to do with security -- being able to say you're ready to defend your family, and you feel you can't do that with kitchen knives or garden equipment," Tita said.
Barbara Graziani, 65, of South Pasadena, said she was eager to bring to the Sheriff's Office the .32-caliber revolver that had been in her home for about 40 years. She and her husband weren't even sure where it came from.
"I really don't need it," she said, "and I never use it."