Six stolen firearms were recovered during the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office gun swap.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY – A total of 1,173 firearms, including six stolen weapons, were turned over to Hillsborough County deputies during Saturday’s (Oct. 6) gun swap.

The gun exchange, sponsored by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, allowed people to turn in a gun and get money back. The idea was to get and keep guns off the street by helping residents get rid of old, unused, or unwanted guns in their possession. (For related story, click here.)

To judge by the response, the idea was popular. More than an hour before the scheduled start time of 9 a.m., citizens began lining up in their vehicles to trade in their old, unwanted guns for $50 and a voucher for two Tampa Bay Rays tickets. Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister chose to open the event early at 8 a.m., collecting more than 100 guns within the first hour.

“I couldn’t be happier that the community took advantage of this program to dispose of their unwanted firearms,” Chronister said, “but the true gratification comes from the fact in knowing that one of these guns won’t be used by children to harm themselves or that a bad guy won’t use one of them to commit another crime.”

The collected guns will be destroyed.

Photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Hillsborough Sheriff | Gun Swap | Gun Exchange | Tampabay News

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