Council to mull handgun buyback

January 31, 2000

BY VANESSA GEZARI
BLADE STAFF WRITER

The Toledo police department wants city council support to begin a $50,000 handgun buyback program in connection with a controversial gun ban that takes effect tomorrow.

Under the buyback proposal, the city would pay $50 each for handguns, with a limit of two per person. The guns would have to be in working order. They could be unwanted weapons or those that violate the recently passed ban.

The buyback would be in effect for 30 days. Citizens could turn in guns at one of the city’s three main police stations.

Council will consider the measure at its 4 p.m. meeting tomorrow in Government Center.

Initially proposed by Mayor Carty Finkbeiner as a ban on “Saturday Night Specials,” the handgun legislation, passed in September, outlawed the possession and sale of some small, easily concealed handguns in the city.

The money for the buyback would come from the city’s Law Enforcement Trust Fund.

Some council members asked why no private money would be used. Councilwoman Edna Brown said that a previous buyback used contributions from local businesses.

“I think buybacks work best when [we] are not using taxpayer dollars,” Councilman Gene Zmuda said.

Mrs. Brown said the proposal needs further discussion.

Recalling an earlier city buyback, she said: “In all honesty, we were told that the majority of what was collected was junk. It was found that the majority of people bringing [guns] in were gun collectors trying to get rid of excess [weapons].

“The people we are going after are not going to turn in their guns for $50 or $100,” Mrs. Brown said. “Also, many have criminal records.

“They’re not going to risk coming in and getting arrested.”

Toledo police Capt. James Matthews, who presented the legislation to council, said the buyback would be anonymous, so gun owners with criminal records would not risk arrest by turning in their weapons.

“What’s to prevent somebody who resides in Sylvania or Perrysburg from bringing [a gun] in?” Councilman Rob Ludeman asked.

“Nothing,” Captain Matthews said.

Additionally, council will consider:

A proposed lease for Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, which has been waiting months for an agreement with the city to open an eatery in the Erie Street Market downtown. According to a draft of the lease, the restaurant would rent 3,000 square feet at the market for five years at $1,500 a month.

A resolution urging the Ohio Department of Liquor Control to reinstate a temporary liquor permit for CitiFest, Inc., the nonprofit group that organizes summertime rallies by the river.
The case against CitiFest stems from an incident May 28 during the Memorial Day weekend’s Rock, Rhythm and Blues Festival. State liquor agents saw volunteers at a beer booth serving alcohol to several people, ages 19 and 20, without asking for identification. The group’s temporary liquor permit was revoked, effective Jan. 6.

“CitiFest has taken steps to correct past problems with liquor sales and to insure that such problems do not reoccur,” according to the council resolution. “The public interest would be better served if the Ohio Department of Liquor Control reinstated CitiFest’s license in order for CitiFest to continue its valuable public service.”

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