The timing of the Chicago Police Department’s two gun turn-ins Saturday was intentional.
During the late days of December around Christmas and New Year’s Eve, when schools are shut down and offices sit mostly empty, many people spend more time at home. Lots of folks also visit the homes of relatives this time of year.
Thus during the holidays, many have more chances to stumble upon guns kept at home — guns their owners may have even forgotten about, said Glen Brooks, director of community policing for the department.
“There’s more people home. More people have an opportunity to find those forgotten weapons,” Brooks said Saturday morning at a church in Englewood where one of the turn-ins took place. “We want to give people an opportunity to make their homes and their communities as safe as possible.”
The other turn-in, held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. like the one in Englewood, was at the House of Hope in Pullman. Brooks said the department’s next turn-ins will be in May, right before the summer.
City residents and people from the suburbs trickled into the community room of the Englewood church, Chosen Bethel Family Ministries, with handguns, rifles, shotguns and realistic replicas.
There was an incentive of $100 to turn in a real gun, and replicas could be exchanged for $10 gift cards. One person brought in seven real guns, an assortment of pistols and long guns.
“We’ll take anything without questions asked,” Brooks said.
Those who turned in guns did not have to provide personal information. After community members handed their guns to the police and the guns were rendered safe, officers started processing the weapons, treating them like they treat all abandoned weapons. Eventually, all of the guns will be destroyed, Brooks said.
Joe Wodynski, 73, came from his home in Lemont to turn in two rifles and a shotgun at the Englewood church.
“My wife was listening to WGN and she heard about this gun buyback,” Wodynski said. “I’ve been diagnosed with a type of leukemia, and my kids don’t want them. People years ago said, ‘Hey, hold this Joe.’ And then they pass on. So I got all these guns I’m trying to get rid of.”
Walter Gillespie, who has been a pastor of Chosen Bethel Family Ministries for 25 years, said that because he was raised in a church that did not minister to its community very much, he’s prioritized connecting with the Englewood community since becoming a pastor. The church feeds the hungry through a pantry and provides support to those addicted to drugs.
“We have peace pop-ups throughout the community, where we go on corners where the police department has told us, ‘It’s a hot spot,’” Gillespie said. “And so we make our presence known and the love of God known to people who are hanging out at these hot spots.”
Gillespie, 68, said he offered to host the turn-in during a meeting with other pastors and representatives from the Englewood police district.
“I have heard about gun buybacks over the years. I have participated in gun buybacks over the years,” Gillespie said. “This is about ministry and making a difference. So I jumped on that opportunity.”
Community participation in gun turn-ins fluctuates, Brooks said. When the department first started doing them, they would get about 3,000 guns in one day, he said. Earlier this year, he said, about 500 guns were received in a turn-in.
“When you clean out your refrigerator with all the bad food, you just throw it in the garbage. When you have a car that no longer works, you call the auto pound or the junk man, right? What do you do with a gun?” Brooks said.
“It’s still functional. It’s still functional after 10 years, 50 years, even 100 years. It can still kill you. So this is a way for people to make their homes and their communities safer.”
“Let’s remember, all guns aren’t used in crimes,” Brooks said. “They’re also used, tragically, in suicides, in accidents.”
