JOSEPH STEPANSKY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The Bronx is a little lighter on fire power after the NYPD netted 165 guns in buybacks at two churches on Saturday.
Pastor Jay Gooding and Bronx DA Darcel Clark helped collect 99 guns at the Fellowship Tabernacle of Praise church on E. Gun Hill Road in Laconia.
Cops and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark’s office offered a $200 bank card for working handguns and assault rifles and a $25 card for rifles and shotguns turned in at the Fellowship Tabernacle Church of God in Christ on E. Gun Hill Road in Laconia and the Evangelical Garifuna Church on Brook Ave. in Mott Haven. They employed a no-questions-asked policy.
Clark’s office, which hosted the event, said 99 of the firearms were traded in at the Fellowship Tabernacle church. Another 66 firearms were turned in at Evangelical Garifuna Church. In total, the city took 61 revolvers, 52 semi-automatics, three assault rifles, 12 rifles, 10 shotguns, 27 BBguns, air pistols, starter pistols off the street.
“We are very pleased that we got so many handguns,” said DA Clark. “Each of these guns represents a life saved in the Bronx.”
Shooting incidents are down 19.3% citywide compared to the same time period last year, with 531 shootings through July 31, compared to 662 in 2015.
