- May 3, 2024
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The Volusia County Sheriff's Office hosted a voluntary gun turn-in Thursday, resulting in more than 50 guns collected.
BY THE OBSERVER STAFF
A total of 58 guns were voluntarily turned in to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office during Thursday’s Kicks 4 Guns crime-fighting program. The annual event encourages citizens to turn in unwanted guns to law enforcement for safe and proper disposal, with no questions asked.
The Sheriff’s Office’s event, one of two in Volusia County and more than a dozen around Central Florida, was held at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in DeLand. Residents who turned in their guns during the 12-hour event received a $50 Wal-Mart gift card. The gift cards were purchased with money seized in criminal cases.
Most of the turned-in weapons were handguns, with a handful of rifles and a few unusual items mixed in — including a pen gun and a sawed-off shotgun. One of the handguns had been reported stolen to the DeLand Police Department in 2011.
While the collection numbers were down from previous years, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said he was still pleased with the outcome.
“The public’s response to this annual event was extremely positive,” he said. “This is a grass-roots program that makes us all a little safer. That’s 58 unwanted guns that have been taken out of circulation so that they can’t fall into the wrong hands, be used to facilitate a crime or result in an accidental death or injury.”
This was the fourth year that the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has participated in the program.
