Do you have a gun at home you’ve always wanted to secure, but weren’t sure how? Well have we got a treat for you.
The Seattle Police Department is now providing free gun locks as part of the ongoing Seattle/King County gun safety initiative.
We’ll have a limited supply of gun locks on hand at tomorrow’s guns-for-giftcards buyback event (9 am to 3 pm in the parking lot under Interstate 5 between Cherry and James Street) and will also have locks available at SPD’s five precincts next week (follow our Twitter feed, @SeattlePD, for lock availability updates). All the locks were provided by the good folks at Project Childsafe.
If you’re bringing any guns to tomorrow’s buyback, please handle them with care. Here are some things you can do to safely transport your firearms to the event:
Participants should unload and secure the weapon in the trunk of the vehicle or in a locked container prior to transport. Individuals should not attempt to unload the firearm if they are not familiar with the weapon. Upon arrival at the gun buyback location, individuals will be advised to leave the firearm in the vehicle until contacted by a uniformed Seattle Police officer. The officer will meet individuals at their vehicle and safely retrieve weapons, magazines or ammunition from the vehicle. Once any weapons are rendered safe, officers will return to the vehicle with the appropriate gift card compensation.
Those who are not driving to the event are asked to secure the unloaded weapon in a box prior to bringing the weapon on site. Such individuals should contact a Seattle Police officer on site prior to entering the location, and notify the officer that they would like to turn in the weapon. Individuals will be escorted to the drop off location.
In exchange for a weapon, individuals will receive up to $100.00 gift card for hand guns, shotguns, & rifles, and up to $200.00 gift card for assault weapons. Police armorers will be on site to determine if a weapon is functional and/or intact. Full gift card value will only be given for working weapons.
The event will also include an offer of additional gift cards for “high capacity” magazines, but they MUST accompany the weapon. Gift cards will not be offered for magazines only. Gift cards in the following values will be offered:
$10 gift cards per magazine for more than 10 rounds (handguns)
$15 gift cards per magazine for 50 – 100 rounds
$25 gift cards per magazine for over 100 rounds
All the guns traded in at tomorrow’s buyback will be melted down and turned into rebar by Nucor Steel.