Gun amnesty program nets 1,074 weapons

More than 1,000 guns were collected during a month-long gun amnesty program in the Halifax area, police announced Thursday.

The Pixels for Pistols program, which began Nov. 2, allowed local residents to turn in working guns in exchange for a new digital camera. Broken guns or ammunition could be traded for a gift card worth about $80.

The program was a partnership between the police department and Henry's, a camera and photography business.

By the time the program ended Nov. 30, Halifax Regional Police had collected 873 long guns and 201 handguns for a total of 1,074 weapons. More than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were also collected.

"What I'm surprised by the most is the sheer volume of firearms that we acquired," said Supt. Don Spicer, the public safety officer for the municipality.

Const. Don Jenkins, who helped oversee the program, said some of the long guns were sawed-off or otherwise modified, which alarmed him.

"Someone made the conscious effort to modify them to make them smaller so that they would have a small, deadly, lethal object that they could use for what I'm convinced to be criminal in purpose," he said.

Spicer said the last time the municipality ran a gun amnesty program, in 2006, about 50 guns were collected over 1 months.

Most of the guns used in crimes have been stolen from legitimate gun owners during break-ins, police said.

"The more guns that we get off the street, the less guns that are available for the criminals," Spicer said. "We also have a crime reduction strategy and we're out there on a regular basis, seizing guns from criminals as well. They're just not getting cameras."

Some people were not interested in receiving a camera and some turned in more than one gun, so about 800 gift cards were distributed, Spicer said.

Officers will examine all the collected weapons and destroy those that have not been used in a crime. Jenkins said some weapons of historical significance will go to military museums.

"We have several handguns at this time that are en route to the army museum on Citadel Hill," he said. "There are family members who served with different Canadian regiments that served in Europe and how they acquired [the weapons] make it definitely a historical significance military-wise."