Monday, April 22, 2013
Operation Gun Swap in February asked county residents to rid their homes of unwanted firearms. This month the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office released a video showing what happened to those guns.
It was the end of the line this month for more than 2,500 unwanted firearms turned in during Operation Gun Swap in February, said to be the largest such gun swap in the nation, according to a release from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. "The nation's largest single-day gun swap came to a fiery finish at a steel mill, where the rifles, shotguns, and handguns were incinerated in a 3,200-degree furnace," according to the sheriff's report. "The packaging, transport and destruction of the unwanted firearms was supervised by a team of [sheriff's office] detectives." As for the melted metal that once was weapons? Melted metal "will become rebar and coat hangers," the report notes. February’s Operation Gun Swap invited residents to …
Saturday, February 9, 2013
People who turned in firearms this month and did not receive their redemption vouchers can do so at one of five locations this weekend, Feb. 9 and 10.
People who turned in firearms Feb. 2 at the Hillsborough County Sheiff's Office's Operation Gun Swap can redeem their vouchers for cash this weekend at any one of the five locations noted below. In all, the operation collected 2,808 firearms from area residents, according to a sheriff's report. Support for the buy-back offer, designed to take reduce the number of firearms countywide, was so strong that on-site redemptions ran out last week. Toward that end, voucher redemptions will be handed out Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 9-10, fro 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following five locations: Sheriff's Operations Center 2008 E. 8th Avenue 13501 N. Nebraska Avenue (site of closed Sunoco gas station) IGA Grocery Store 14720 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr…
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Trade in unwanted firearms for cash at one of five drop-off locations in Hillsborough County on Saturday, Feb. 2. Walk out, too, with Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Rays game tickets.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Thursday, January 31
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has scheduled a gun buy-back for Saturday, Feb. 2, at five locations. Residents can trade in their firearms for a two-pack of tickets to a Tampa Bay Lightning game and two tickets to a Tampa Bay Rays game. Also in the deal, $75 for each firearm turned in. “I think it’s a fantastic package,” said Capt. Chad Chronister, who is helping to head-up the Saturday gun swap. The gun buy-back had been scheduled for a future date but was moved up in light of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting masacre, Chronister said. With 147 armed burglaries in Hillsborough County last year and 145 the year before, Chronister said there’s no illusion a single buyback will reduce crime dramatically. It can, however, help …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Undercover detectives seized guns from convicted felons and drug dealers operating across the street from Gibsonton Elementary School. Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee discussed “Operation Cease Fire” at a Jan. 15 press conference.
Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee announced the results of a six-month undercover operation that resulted in a wave of arrests of convicted felons who sold guns and drugs across the street from Gibsonton Elementary School. In all, 10 people have been arrested, with arrest warrants issued for three additional people, according to Gee's report, issued at a Jan. 15 press conference (see chart below). Nine of the 13 people netted in the undercover operation were convicted felons, "who sold 29 firearms and 40 silencers to undercover detectives," Gee said. Weapons removed from the street include an AR-15, AK-47 style rifle, 22-caliber rifle with silencer, sawed-off shotguns and sniper-type rifles with night vision. Detectives also …
Here’s the text of the report Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee made at a press conference Jan. 15, about the results of “Operation Cease Fire,” an undercover operation aimed at "taking guns out of the hands of violent felons."
Below is the prepared text from which Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee made his remarks at the Operation Cease Fire press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 15. The text of his speech was released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. ______________ It goes without saying that the recent shootings in our country have turned the topic of guns into a national conversation. But here at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, we have never stopped focusing on one thing when it comes to this issue: taking guns out of the hands of violent felons. In 2010, our agency formed a specialized gun squad out of our Special Investigations Division to focus solely on crimes involving guns and felons in possession of those firearms. The guns you …
Brian K
1:06 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Is it a good idea to give up your Constitutional 2nd amendment right for 75 dollars cash and some cheap seats at a ballgame? Is being armed and able to protect your life and your families life worth 75 dollars? They think this buy back will stop a criminal from getting guns? So how do criminals get drugs that are illegal? more ›