Community Foundation Congratulates Monmouth Prosecutor on Gun Buyback

The Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) congratulates the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office for the success of last month’s gun buyback program, which paid $15,000 to purchase 218 guns in Rumson and Asbury Park.

Five handguns and 126 assault weapons were turned in as a result of the buyback, illustrating the fact that there are unwanted and potentially dangerous guns in every type of community. 

CFNJ matched a $12,500 grant from one of its donors to provide critical funding for the buyback and the outreach that attracted participants.  The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, was compelled by the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut and other recent shootings to help reduce the potential for gun violence in his community, yet in a nonpolitical, nonpartisan way. 

“This is a way individuals can help remove dangerous guns from their communities,” said the donor.  “If we can take unused guns off the streets and that leads to just one person being saved, that’s just great.”

The donor partnered with CFNJ with a hope that donors in other communities might fund buybacks for the communities they care about.  The funding for Monmouth County was enough to allow another gun buyback to take place in 2014.

“Given limited local and state funding, we’re seeing more donors interested in supporting these types of gun buybacks,” said Hans Dekker, President of CFNJ.  “The results really speak for themselves and show donors that they can immediately and tangibly improve the safety of their communities.”

Anyone seeking to sponsor a gun buyback program in their community is invited to contact CFNJ at 973-267-5533.