Cash for guns program comes to L.B.

It was a first in Long Beach.

The Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church invited owners of illegal guns to turn them in, no questions asked, in exchange for $200 in cash last week. This gun-buy-back program, organized with the Nassau County District Attorney’s office, collected more than 100 firearms.

“Long Beach isn’t a real gangster town,” said Marcus Tinker, president of the Boys to Men Ministry at the parish, who helped organize the event on Sept. 20. “You don’t have a lot of gun play, but there’s a lot of drug dealing around the neighborhood and when you’re dealing with drugs, guns can come into play.”

Tinker and fellow church members, such as Rueben Sherred, passed out 700 flyers around town and used Facebook, Twitter and the Herald to help publicize the event. A total of 120 firearms were taken off the streets.

“Some people said we were crazy for it and we weren’t going to get any guns,” Tinker recalled. “But, when you get the results, it obviously worked.”

Sherred admitted to being surprised at the number of guns that were turned in. He said the Nassau County and Long Beach police officers who ran the event were dressed in everyday clothing and were personable to all who came in.

“They were only asked two questions: How you doing, and how many guns do you have,” said Sherred, who was thankful the church was part of the program. Sherred said it seemed as though the people who came in with guns were in and out of the church in less than a minute.

Looking to create more programs to keep young people, particularly males, off the street, Tinker said the church approached the district attorney’s office about holding the program in Long Beach.

Nassau County’s gun-buy-back program kicked off on Dec. 20, 2008, with pickup points in Hempstead, Uniondale and Freeport. To date, it has collected almost 600 illegal guns, including a Tec-9 handgun, which was the most lethal weapon received.

Tinker and the church plan to hold the event again next spring. Along with the gun-buy-back program, the church has also worked with the county in a apprenticeship program that helps residents earn certifications and jobs in the construction industry. The church is also working with the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Long Beach to have parole and probation hearings for residents close to home, which would be more convenient than traveling to Mineola or Hempstead.

Sherred explained that some parolees have trouble making the trip to meet their parole or probation officer either because of lack of transportation or a handicap.

“It would be a lot easier to just make it to the church and to the center where they’re more comfortable,” said Sherred, adding that it would encourage more people to meet with their officers and improve the program.

Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.