Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose announced the smelting of 168 illegal guns housed in the Newark Police Division’s property and division Thursday morning.
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According to Director Ambrose, Newark Police Offciers work tirelessly every day to rid city streets of illegal guns and to reduce crime.
"We know that removing illegal guns contributes to violence reduction and gun related crimes. The removal of these guns means they no longer pose a threat to our residents or others" Director Ambrose said.
NPD has identified some 168 weapons to be smelted for other uses. The destruction of these weapons ensures that they will never return to the city’s streets to be used to injure anyone or to take a life.
“With New Jersey having the strongest gun control law in America weapons continue to flow into Newark from other states,” Mayor Baraka said.
“We need national gun control. By destroying these guns, we at least insure that they will never be used again to inflict violence in Newark.”
“To ensure that these guns can no longer be used in criminal activities, we smelt them,” Director Ambrose said.
“We removed more than 500 guns from our streets last year alone and just as many in 2015. These illegal guns pose a significant threat to those in our city. Only by smelting them can we ensure they that they will no longer be used to intentionally or accidentally kill or injure someone. Most recently an illegally gun resulted in the accidental shooting of a child who lost his life at the hands of another child who found and illegal gun. More needs to be done to control the proliferation of illegal guns,” Director Ambrose added.