Gun buyback program nets more than 200

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A gun buyback program brought in 231 guns Saturday.
Kevin Manko, of Elizabeth Township, turned in two long guns. With two young daughters, he decided his home would be safer without the weapons.
"They were my father's," Manko said. "I really didn't have a need for them."
He was paid $25 in gift certificates for each long gun; handguns fetch $50 each in gift certificates.
Pittsburgh police Lt. Philip Dacey, who has worked in the Goods for Guns of Allegheny County program since its inception in 1994, said people want to make their homes and neighborhoods safer.
"No one expects to get the hard rocks off the streets -- the gang members," he said. "But we get the girlfriends, the mothers and the wives bringing in guns."
The program operated with larger budgets in the past, which allowed two days of buybacks, but with a smaller budget, the group could only hold one day.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.