Gun buy-back program nets over 200 weapons

By Gwen H. Jader

Daily Herald Correspondent
December 16, 2001

The Lake County Sheriff's Office collected more than 200 firearms Saturday in the county's first gun buy back program.

Guns were collected at the "Old" Mundelein Fire Department building and police department offices in Round Lake Beach, Lake Forest, Lake Zurich and Waukegan.

"It's much busier than we anticipated. We've been very busy at each location," said Mark Piccoli, the Deputy Director of the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group. Officers also made house calls, for participants who were concerned about handling loaded guns or who couldn't drive.

"There's a story behind every gun. There's always history behind a weapon," said Sergeant Kent Perkins of the Kildeer Police Department.

He and Lake Zurich police officer Scott Frost collected two rifles and a handgun from a home in Lake Zurich's Old Mill Grove community. Resident Jerry Gagnon was happy to dispose of three guns. Two had been left to him by his father and one had been left in an apartment owned by his grandfather.

"These have been sitting in the corner for 25 years. It's something that you don't want to have, yet you don't know how to dispose of properly," Gagnon said.

Widows returned guns owned by their deceased spouses. Veterans brought in 45-caliber pistols and service revolvers. Former hunters turned in hunting rifles.

Dennis and Muriel Olenik drove to Lake Zurich from Arlington Heights to bring in a 12-gauge shotgun that Dennis had hunted with years ago when they lived in central Illinois.

"This is a hunting weapon that I had before the days of permits. It's probably a collector's item. This a great program because this is something that you don't know how to get rid of properly," he said.

Participants received a $50 gift certificate, redeemable at local stores and restaurants, for each gun. They also received a stuffed animal. "We're providing an outlet for people, primarily an older crowd, who want to dispose of guns safely," said Rodney Chesser, Lake Zurich Commander, Criminal Investigations Division. The buy back continues from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

Getting rid of guns

By Harold G. Downs

Daily Herald Staff Writer

December 03, 2002

Gun owners wanting to dispose of unwanted guns and ammunition are urged to do so during Lake County's second gun buyback program. The program is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at police locations in Waukegan, Mundelein, Round Lake Park/Hainesville, Gurnee, Lake Forest, Lake Zurich, Grayslake, Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove and Highland Park. People who turn in unwanted functioning firearms receive a $50 gift certificate to a food or department store per weapon and a stuffed animal, with a gift certificate limit of $200 per person. Pellet and BB guns and nonfunctional weapons can be redeemed for stuffed animals. All guns and accessories will be destroyed. The program is coordinated by the Lake County Sheriff's Office in cooperation with the Lake County Chiefs of Police Association, Lake County Crime Stoppers, Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group and local law enforcement agencies. Police ask participants to follow these guidelines: • Guns should be unloaded and in a gun case or bag and transported in the trunk of the car or nonaccessible area of a van or pickup truck. • When arriving at the turn-in site, enter without the firearm and ask a uniformed officer about turning in the firearm. The officer will accompany the participant back to the vehicle and retrieve the weapon. • Those unfamiliar or uncomfortable with handling or unloading firearms safely or who need a ride to a turn-in site can call the sheriff's office or local police department and an officer will travel to the home to assist. • An officer will retrieve a firearm from a home if a person is unable to leave. The officer will complete the paperwork and return with the $50 gift certificate and stuffed animal. Last year's program collected 408 firearms and distributed $20,000 in certificates over two days in its first year. The number of weapons turned in at any one site ranged from 99 in Mundelein to 68 in Lake Zurich. Lake Zurich Police Chief William Urry noted the gift certificates and stuffed animals give gun owners an incentive to turn in their unwanted weapons during the program, rather than just turning them in for disposal at local police departments as some do. "The whole idea is to get the weapon out of the house," Urry said. "We're targeting people who have no real use for the weapon." Urry, who is also president of the Lake County Chiefs of Police Association, noted the program may not occur every year, depending on what this year's results yield. The program is occurring only one day this year compared to last year's two days, but more turn-in sites were added this year, Urry said. Lake County Sheriff's Police cited the following statistics from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. • There are about 192 million privately owned firearms in the United States, 65 million being handguns. • There were 30,708 firearm-related deaths in the U.S. in 1998, 57 percent being suicides, 39 percent murders, 3 percent accidents and 1 percent unknown. • Gunshot wounds were the second leading cause of death and injury for children and young people 10 and 24 years old, with the leading cause motor vehicle accidents. Lake County Sheriff Gary Del Re noted the program's purpose is not to deter private gun ownership but allow citizens to dispose of unwanted firearms, accessories and ammunition. "By conducting such operations, law enforcement enables the community to play an active role in getting unwanted guns off the street and out of the hands of potential wrongdoers by reducing the number of firearms in circulation," Del Re said.