The Rotary Club of Union County gave community members a chance to anonymously turn in unwanted firearms on Saturday, May 30, during the county’s first ever Child and Firearms Safety Day Program, hosted in partnership with local law enforcement.
People could surrender unwanted or nonworking firearms to the Blairsville Police Department from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a Rotary Club tent outside the Union County Courthouse. For each weapon surrendered, participants received a $25 Walmart gift card. Community members could also pick up free gun locks and safety information, regardless of whether they turned in a firearm.
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North Georgia News — serving Union County since 1909.
Blairsville Police Chief Michael “Bear” Baxter said all surrendered firearms will be documented and destroyed by a third-party evidence disposal company after the Police Department verifies they are not stolen.
Union County Rotary Club President Charles “Chuck” Henz, who applied for the grant that made Saturday’s event possible, said the program was not intended to discourage legal gun ownership, but rather to promote firearm safety.
“The whole purpose was not to get criminals to turn their guns in, because they’re not going to,” Henz said. “It’s more about creating a safe environment in the home for our children.”
Assistant Police Chief Russell “Rusty” Walker said organizers hoped misconceptions about firearm surrender programs would not keep people from participating on Saturday or in the future.
“Especially where we live, there seems to be a stigma around events like this,” Walker said. “People think, ‘Big Brother’s trying to take my gun. Somebody’s trying to take my gun.’ That’s not it at all.”
“What we get in return is, we get a gun out of a 2-year-old’s hand or a domestic situation or whatever,” he said. “We’re certainly not trying to take anybody’s guns from them.”
Baxter noted that many of the event’s organizers are gun owners themselves.
“We all own guns. We’re proud to own guns,” he said. “But there’s a difference in owning a gun and being a responsible gun owner.”
Although only several firearms were surrendered during the event, Henz was happy with the result of the program.
“As far as we’re concerned, it’s a success, because we’ve been able to take some of those off the street, out of the closet, out of the home,” he said. “That’s what this is about.”
The event was supported by Union County Rotary, Blairsville PD, Union County Sheriff’s Office, Jim’s Smokin’ Que, the Union County Commissioner’s Office, West Printing, Ruger, NSSF ChildSafe, the National Rifle Association and Support in Abusive Family Emergencies.
Organizers said that in the future, they hope to make the Child and Firearms Safety Day Program an annual event.
In the meantime, any remaining gun locks or educational materials from Saturday’s program will be distributed through local law enforcement agencies. While supplies last, stop by either the Blairsville Police Department or the Union County Sheriff’s Office to pick up a free gun lock.
