Elmont to host gun buy-back event

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Police Commissioner Thomas V. Dale announced that a three-hour gun buyback event will be held on June 22 from 9 a.m. to noon. The program will be held at the Emanuel Baptist Church, at 1880 Pelham Street, in Elmont.

The gun buyback event is being held on the heels of an increasing number of violent incidents involving firearms across Nassau County — highlighted by the shooting death of Hofstra University student Andrea Rebello in May. Rebello was the victim of a home invasion by an armed intruder.

County officials hope the program will be as fruitful as the gun buyback event held in Uniondale in February, in which 330 firearms were taken off streets.

Officials say the program is anonymous and offers incentives as well. Individuals who turn in operable rifles will be paid $100, $200 for operable handguns and $400 for operable assault rifles. Licensed guns, B.B. guns, air pistols, long guns and replicas will not be accepted.

Guns transported by car must be transported in the trunk of the car and must be unloaded and put in a plastic/paper bag or in a shoe box.