Nassau to offer $200 for guns in firearms buyback

Nassau County's eighth handgun buyback program is scheduled for Saturday at the Iglesia Pentecostal De Jesucristo Refugio Eterno Church in Roosevelt, Nassau County officials said Wednesday.

Under the program, individuals can anonymously turn in working handguns and be paid $200 for each firearm, according to a news release.

The program is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church at 184 Nassau Rd.

The last buyback program took 192 illegal guns off the street, County Executive Edward Mangano said in a statement.

"This program has proven to be effective in getting guns off our streets before they fall into the wrong hands," he said.

The operation is run jointly by Nassau County police and the district attorney's office.

Since introducing the program in December 2008, agencies have collected more than 1,500 weapons, according to the county, including the 192 handguns in the August collection.

The county buyback is separate from the police-run GunStoppers initiative launched in February 2008. Both programs are funded through money seized in criminal prosecutions.