SOUTH BRUNSWICK — The Township Council is examining the possibility of a gun amnesty program.
The idea, suggested by former Councilman John O’Sullivan, would allow the township police department to collect guns from residents with no questions asked.
“The idea of a gun amnesty program is to help get unlicensed and illegal weapons off our streets,” O’Sullivan said. “This can be accomplished by having our police department set up a time and place where people can come in and turn in their weapons under a grant of amnesty, which has been done by many towns and cities in the United States.”
The idea was proposed at a Jan. 8 work session meeting of the council. Members of the council, including Mayor Frank Gambatese, agreed that an amnesty program would be a good response to gun violence in South Brunswick.
“Any time you get guns off the street is a positive thing,” Gambatese told the Sentinel. “Any weapon, registered or not, is a good thing to get off the streets. That’s my feeling on it. Even after four years in [military] service, I still have problems with guns.”
While there are no statistics on how many guns an amnesty program would bring in, O’Sullivan said that “getting any off our streets would be a step in the right direction.”
The township is currently speaking with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office to clarify if they are able to grant amnesty.
“We need to make sure that we have the authority to grant amnesty with something that may not be in our jurisdiction,” Gambatese said. “We’re checking with the county. Although I have a feeling that the state may be the only one with authority to grant amnesty, if we can do it, we’re going to do it.”
Other options, such as a gun buyback program, are not feasible for the township, Gambatese explained.
“That becomes difficult because that takes taxpayer’s money, and taxpayers have a say in the use of their money,” Gambatese said. “We don’t have the right to buy guns, and it’s too expensive.”
The township will know by the Jan. 22 council meeting if they are able to pursue an amnesty program.
“By then, we’ll have an answer back as to what’s legal or not legal, and then we can determine what we can do, if there’s a way we can do this without causing a major problem,” Gambatese said.
He added that he hopes to take part in a combined program with other townships in the future to encourage the turnover of more firearms in southern Middlesex County.
“If we can do this, we may have … the south Middlesex County’s mayors and councils endorse this, and maybe all these towns can have an amnesty program of some kind,” Gambatese said.