HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. — Officials in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, are hoping a “gun buy-back” event scheduled for Saturday will help the city, as well as Phillips County, toward a more peaceful 2021.
The event well be held in the parking lot of Hays Grocery Store at 816 Sebastian Street from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m.
Helena-West Helena mayor Kevin Smith doesn’t mince words about the problem facing his community.
“In 2020 a lot of our homicides were, essentially could have been prevented because they were either accidental or crimes of passion. They were in the hands of just “the wrong people at the wrong time,” Smith said.
There were 13 homicides last year in Helena-West Helena, one of them police officer Travis Wallace.
Smith says a professional from Memphis will assess the value of each gun turned in, in exchange for a Walmart gift card.
“Someone from the City of Helena-West Helena Police Department or the Sheriff’s Department will then do the paperwork to transfer the gun over to the County or the City in return for gift cards up to the value of the gun,” Smith said.
He says gun buy-back programs have been generally across the country, and he’s counting on positive results from Saturday’s event.
“I’m hoping that the people who come are people who realize that the guns are not as valuable as those gift cards would be for them and that exchange will get guns off our streets,” Smith said.
