Michigan State Police changes firearm disposal plans
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan State Police announced a new method of firearm disposal here in the state.
It's a story CBS News Detroit has been following since December when we learned guns disposed of at a gun buyback event weren't completely being destroyed.
On Monday, MSP said it will pulverize disposed of firearms, in their entirety, at a scrap metal processing facility in Jackson, Michigan, as opposed to a firearm destruction facility in Missouri.
Following a "New York Times" investigation that claimed firearms returned at events like this weren't being completely destroyed and instead being recycled for parts, MSP immediately put a stop to gun buybacks back in December.
"The state police understood the problem. They understood people's reactions to it, and they acted as quickly as possible. It's not easy to find somebody who can handle the capacity that the state police have, which is about 250 guns a week," says The Rev. Chris Yaw of St. David's Episcopal Church in Southfield.
St. David's held a gun buyback event in December 2023, shortly before the Times investigation was released. Now in March of the following year, Yaw says the proper steps are now being taken to eliminate disposed firearms completely.
"I'm elated that the Michigan State Police has taken the right step in honoring really, what is the spirit, in a statement like we're destroying guns," Yaw says.
In a statement, Col. James. F. Grady II, MSP director, says, "This new method will improve public safety by ensuring all parts of a firearm are destroyed, never to be used again, and continue to meet the ATF's acceptable destruction procedures, as we always have."
Yaw tells CBS News Detroit the next gun buyback will take place at St. David's on June 15, 2024.