12-04-2025
New Hawaii DLE director details gun buyback event
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The state is hosting another gun buyback event this weekend aimed to encourage residents to surrender unwanted firearms in exchange for gift cards, with no questions asked and no identification required.
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'We're asking anybody who has firearms that they no longer have use for, to go ahead and turn those in, and we'll go ahead and exchange those for some gift cards at a local grocery store,' said the state's new Department of Law Enforcement Director Mike Lambert.
The state held gun buybacks in 2024, with one in August giving out $53,100 in gift cards. Lambert thinks it can create a safer environment for residents.'What it does is it reduces the amount of guns that perhaps are not being stored or cared for correctly. What we find is that sometimes there are gun owners that pass, and their family members don't have the same love or passion for guns. And that can be a very dangerous combination for many reasons. Maybe they're not stored properly. Secondly, they may not be handled properly. So what we wanna do is take those off your hands and exchange that to incentivize people to exchange it for gift cards.'
Guns that are turned in are reviewed and if stolen, returned to the legal owner. If it isn't stolen, it is destroyed in a big metal shredder.
This is one of Lambert's first events as the new head of DLE.
'I've been Honolulu-centric for twenty-two years, meaning that I will fight tooth and nail for everything that, you know, matters to Honolulu,' he said of his career as Major for the Honolulu Police Department. 'Now it's just a matter of, I guess, broadening my vision and opening my heart to all counties. So after the legislative session, I definitely wanna get out to the other county chiefs and see how the state can go ahead and support their operations.'
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The event is Saturday at Aloha Stadium's gate 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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