Miami

Gun Buyback Saturday: Turn in a Gun, Get a Bike

During Friday night's monthly Critical Mass bike ride through Downtown Miami police officers handed out fliers for a unique gun buyback program.

The inaugural program, called "More Bikes Less Guns" will be held Saturday. People are being asked to get the guns off the streets and replace them with bicycles.

In March and April a series of shootings in Miami left four teenagers and kids dead.

And one Miami bicycle shop wanted to do something good for the community. The "More Bikes Less Guns" program aims to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

"A month and a half ago, in April, I heard on the news about Jarvis Henderson," said Miami Bike Shop manager Karim Nahim.

16-year-old Jarvis Henderson was shot and killed as he stood next to his girlfriend in Little Haiti. Those who knew him were heartbroken. But his murder even had an impact on strangers.

"I picked this project because it's kind of close to me.. close to the community... and I see how the effects of violence and crime impacts us here in this area," Nahim said. "We service the police bikes here so I spoke with one of the lieutenants and I pitched the idea to him."

And a partnership between the Miami Bike Shop and Miami Police was born. On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Museum Club Tower in Downtown anybody can turn in a gun and get some new wheels in return.

"For some of them they're just lying around and we seen a lot of elderly come in with weapons that they have left over from when their husbands of past and they don't know what to do with them," said Kenia Fallat of the Miami Police Department.

Last year there were 152 shootings in Miami-Dade County. Only 15 of them have been solved. Police said the gun buyback program keeps guns from falling into the wrong hands.

"Time and time again we're seeing more shootings and more of them in the hands of juveniles. We need to locate this... we need to reduce the gun violence out on the streets," said Fallat.

"What we're doing is removing something negative from the community and adding something positive," added Nahim.

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