494 firearms recovered at Oʻahu Gun Buyback event

State officials recovered 494 firearms and distributed 82 gun locks at a Gun Buyback event held over the weekend in Honolulu and Waiʻanae on Oʻahu.

The assortment included ghost guns, assault rifles, a gun with silencer, an Uzi, a Mac10, a pistol with threaded barrel and silencer, sawed off shotguns, and all types of rifles and handguns.  

The Department of Law Enforcement and Department of Public Safety hosted the event in partnership with the Office of the Governor, the Department of the Attorney General, the Department of Health, the Department of Transportation and the Honolulu Police Department.

The buyback event was held in an ongoing effort to protect Hawaiʻi residents from gun violence and keep communities safe.

Individuals who turned in the following firearms were provided with compensation in the form of Foodland gift cards:

• $200 Foodland gift card for automatic firearms of any type, semi-automatic rifles, ghost guns.
• $100 Foodland gift card for handguns, rifles, shotguns, bump stocks, Glock switches

Officials say, at a minimum, 500 cards were given out. 

There was no limit on the number of firearms turned in, but individuals were limited to receiving a maximum of three gift cards total. The locations accepted both working and non-working firearms and also offered gun locks for anyone who didn’t wish to turn in a gun, but still wanted to make their firearms safe.

“This initiative is part of a larger effort to combat gun violence and promote safe neighborhoods across Hawaiʻi,” said Governor Josh Green, M.D. “I am proud to be working with our law enforcement agencies to expand this program statewide.”

“This buyback program is just one way we are working to make our community safer. By turning in unwanted guns, it may help save a life and prevent a future crime from being committed,” said Department of Law Enforcement Director Jordan Lowe.

“This is an important community safety initiative that will help get guns off the streets and out of reach of people who should not possess them,” said Public Safety Department Director Tommy Johnson.

Future gun buyback events are being discussed with county law enforcement partners statewide. Plans, including dates and locations, are part of those discussions and will be determined at a later date.

This Oʻahu Gun Buyback initiative was funded in part through the Hawaiʻi Department of Law Enforcement and by a Federal Housing and Urban Development – Project Safe Neighborhoods grant. The DLE contributed $45,000 and $45,000 was obtained through the federal grant.

This was an amnesty program, in which no questions were asked about the person dropping off the gun(s). No identification was required. Licensed gun dealers and active/retired law enforcement individuals were not eligible for participation. On-site officials reserved the right to refuse acceptance of firearms or issuing of gift cards.