The shootings in Connecticut sent a few ripples into a Brooklyn church on Saturday, with at least some people saying that they gave up their weapons after learning about what happened in Newtown.
The church, Mount Ollie Baptist in Brownsville, was one of two places in the borough that took part in a gun buyback program run by the Police Department and the Brooklyn district attorney's office.
“That took a little toll on me,†Samuel Price, 56, said of the Connecticut slayings. He had brought in a .38 caliber revolver that he said he found in a drawer used by a grandson.
The weapon might not have been his, but Mr. Price said that mattered little: “I did the right thing.â€
Nearby, the church's pastor, the Rev. Reginald Lee Bachus, said that a woman turned in three guns that had belonged to her husband. “Because of what happened yesterday,†he added. “She did not want that on her conscience.â€
Outside the church, a man who declined to give his name said that what happened in Newtown was “a bit of a catalyst.â€
Under the buyback program, participants are paid up to $200 a weapon. As participants entered the church they turned over the weapons, many in plastic shopping bags, to uniformed police officers, who took the guns to a separate area where they were inspected and, if necessary, unloaded. People then waited for payment in the church basement where red and gold tinsel covered the walls.
Those who had turned in functioning weapons were given a debit card worth $200. Guns that did not function were good for $20.
On Saturday evening, the Brooklyn district attorney's office reported that the police had accepted 134 working guns, including 80 revolvers,
31 semi-automatic pistols, four rifles, three shotguns and a sawed-off shotgun.
One woman who turned over a pistol said she had been spurred by cases of children being shot much closer to home.
“In our area there have been many incidents,†she said. “Here it's been more than twenty.â€
