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09/24/2024 10:36 AMOn Jan. 31, 2018, Guilford resident Kristin Miller Song experienced a pain no parent should ever have to go through, losing her son, Ethan. His death was a result of a gun owner not properly storing or securing his weapon. The issue of improper storage and securement has not only been a town-wide or statewide issue but also a national issue.
"It really infuriated me," Miller Song said. "That something so easy, that could have been done to protect our children, was just not done."
Since then, Miller Song has been a vocal advocate for gun safety measures, working with state and federal legislators and local police to inform and assist gun owners with properly securing their guns and preventing something similar from happening to another child.
Miller Song, along with the Guilford Police Department (GPD), is set to host the fourth annual #KeepKidsSafe CT Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway Day on Saturday, Oct. 5. According to Miller Song, the event is designed to provide gun owners with a no-questions-asked way to get rid of unwanted firearms. Gun safes are also available to help owners store their weapons properly.
"I started the [gun buyback and safe giveaway] because I know that it would have saved my son's life," Miller Song said. "I wanted people to know that I have no issue with you owning a gun; I do have an issue with you being negligent and reckless with your guns."
Gun owners can bring their unwanted firearms to the GPD, 400 Church Street, on Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Gift cards will be exchanged for operable guns while supplies last. Non-working guns, black-powder weapons, flare guns, pellet guns, BB guns and ammunition, and magazine clips may also be turned in but are not eligible for gift cards. A limited number of pin-code gun safes are available for pistol permit holders.
While the event originated in Guilford, it has since spread across the state, with the gun buyback and safe giveaway also happening in Meriden, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury, Hartford, and Newtown.
"If you have guns in your home and your situation has changed," Miller Song said. "We will be buying guns back that day. This day should not be political or controversial at all; this is about keeping our community safe."
The event also has a list of sponsors who are helping to fund and support the efforts of the gun buyback and safe giveaway, including the Ethan Miller Song Foundation, the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation, and numerous police departments and hospitals.
"There's a lot of hospitals who have jumped in because the surgeons are the ones trying to save these children when they've been shot," Song said. "They are tired of seeing these children and these babies come into their ER. Police stations are tired of going to people's homes."
The fourth annual #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Statewide Gun BuyBack Gun Safe Giveaway Day is on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Guilford Police Department, 400 Church Street. For more information, visit www.newtownactionalliancefoundation.org.