Conway OKs $5,000 for gun buy backs

CONWAY The Conway City Council approved $5,000 Monday night to help fund a gun buy back program that supporters hope will cut down on reports they hear of shootings and gunplay in neighborhoods.

City Councilman Larry White, the driving force behind the effort, said he’s not sure how many guns will be sold to the city because of the program or if they will be coming from those most likely to commit crimes, but he said that any reduction in the number of guns will be a positive thing.

The city’s money will be combined with a like amount pledged by the Horry County Police Department and contributions to be sought from area residents and businesses to form the pot from which the guns will be produced.

Conway Police Chief Reggie Gosnell said that Myrtle Beach held a similar program last year and got 140 guns, a greater than anticipated response. He said the Georgetown Police Department also had a buy back program that netted 30 handguns.

Gosnell said that the guns purchased through the program would be destroyed.

White said that an additional part of the Conway program will be to educate people on the pros and cons of having or not having guns. White said the program will further aim to alert parents to be aware of what their children bring into their homes, hopefully stopping some gunplay in that way.

Gosnell said he’s not sure when the buy back will begin, but he’s hopeful it can start within several months.

“It won’t be a short turnaround,” he said of working out the details for the program.

Gosnell said a key component will be community buy-in to the idea of reducing the number of guns in the public’s hands and that it will be a major part of the effort before the buy back begins. He said that drop-off points for purchasing the guns must also be identified prior to the start of the program.

White said he doesn’t know the statistics on Conway crime – they’ve dropped for each of the last three years – but he believes that not all gun crimes are reported because people fear they will be targeted if they report wrongdoings.

He said he anticipates the guns purchased in Conway’s program will come from within the city limits and surrounding unincorporated areas.

“The shootings, the robberies, harassing the neighborhoods,” he said, are sure to drop with fewer guns in circulation.