Syracuse residents turned in the most amount of guns during a statewide buyback event this weekend.
Out of the nine simultaneous events Saturday, Syracuse residents submitted 751 guns in exchange for gift cards amounting up to hundreds of dollars depending on the weapon.
Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile said the buyback helps keep hundreds of firearms from being used in a crime.
“Any guns we can secure from falling into the hands of those who would use them for criminal acts and gun violence makes our community safer,” Cecile said in a news release from the attorney generals office, which organized the event.
In Niagara Falls, residents turned in 505 guns, the second-highest collected among the statewide sites. A Long Island event had the third-largest with 462 firearms.
Overall the statewide buyback collected more than 3,000 guns. More than half were handguns, over 800 were long guns and 185 were assault weapons.
There have now been over 7,000 firearms submitted through the state’s buyback program since 2019.
