Flint police offering residents cash in gun bounty event
FLINT, Mich. (WNEM) - The Flint Police Department is offering residents cash for firearms, no questions asked, at a gun bounty event.
The event will be held on Feb. 3 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cathedral of Faith Church located at 6031 Dupont St. in Flint.
The program’s goal is taking and keeping dangerous weapons out of circulation and it targets weapons that cause the most harm. As incentive, the program offers full street value of the weapons for cash on the spot. The program does not accept inoperable guns that don’t pose an immediate threat to public safety.
“Those types of weapons that penetrate walls of homes, tumbler bullets, war-style weapons, AK-47s, street sweepers, Tec-9s, and those types of weapons. We’re giving full street value for those weapons. So, we’re giving typically a lot more money for those weapons because we know one deficit that we can never overcome is a death deficit. And so, we want to be able to do that,” said Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley.
Neeley said the collection site is a neutral location.
“It’s a church here inside the city of Flint. So, people can feel safe about dropping those weapons off, no questions asked, and then collecting the bounty that we have out there for those weapons,” Neeley said. “We’re going to hold these weapons until we can make sure we can get them to a provider that’s going to actually destroy these weapons, making sure that we have a guarantee these weapons will never repopulate in any community throughout our country.”
The city will hold all collected weapons as its partner, Michigan State Police, works to identify a solution for destroying guns, the city said, adding it is still holding guns collected during its gun bounty event held in September 2023.
The program is part of a holistic approach to reducing violent crime in Flint. Neeley declared a gun violence emergency in 2021 after the city’s homicide rate spiked, and followed it up with a set of public safety initiatives.
The city said since 2021, it has seen a 40 percent decrease in homicides
Neeley said up to $1,000 cash is being offered for each firearm.
“If you’re a grandmother, or father, or mother, knows that junior has a gun that they don’t need to have, bring that gun to the gun bounty. Turn it over. Get some cash. And then we can move forward in a safer, better way,” Neeley said.
The gun bounty program is funded by a grant awarded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
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