Ridgefield Police to Buy Back Guns Saturday

The Ridgefield Police want to buy unwanted guns in town.

The Ridgefield Police will buy back firearms of all types Saturday in an effort to make Ridgefield a little safer.

Sometimes people inherit a gun from a parent or grandparent, and they're uncomfortable with them, said Capt. Thomas Comstock at the Ridgefield Police Department. They're not used to it, they don't use it and they think it shouldn't be there. They don't know what to do with it. If it gets stolen during a burglary, the gun could reach the street.

"That's one less gun on the street," Comstock said. "People asked the chief of police about a gun buyback program. They asked Rudy Marconi about it."

Ridgefield has been discussing the issue, as have many towns, since the tragic school shooting in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012.

The department is asking people to bring the guns to the police department very carefully. The department listed rules.

• The gun must be unloaded.
• The gun must be placed in a clear plastic bag, which itself is then put in another bag or backpack.
• The unloaded gun must be driven to the department in the trunk of the car.
• The gun and its ammunition will be given to the state Police Department, which will destroy it.
• Gun dealers may not participate in this program.

• The department will pay up to $200 for a working handgun.
• It will pay up to $10 for an air rifle, a BB gun, a pellet gun, an antique firearm, or a gun that doesn't work.
• It will pay up to $300 for a working rifle or shotgun.
• It will pay up to $700 for a pre-ban assault rifle.
• It will pay up to $500 for a post-ban assault rifle.
• It will pay up to $20 for a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition.