By Brian McBride
Associate Editor

Two Osceola County law enforcement agencies certainly got some bang for the buck after taking more than 130 unwanted guns off the street by offering people monetary incentives to surrender them.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office and the Kissimmee Police Department collected 74 and 64 guns, respectively, Aug. 20, by offering $50 gift certificates over a 12-hour period during the Kicks 4 Guns program. Sheriff's Office officials offered free gas cards, while Kissimmee police gave out Walmart and Target gift cards with no questions asked.

The recent campaign was the third year the Sheriff's Office took part in the program coordinated by Crimeline, having collected 262 guns the past two years.

It was the second year for the Kissimmee department. Last year, it took 77 guns and two explosive devices off the street.

Law enforcement officers working the collection sites from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. took in a mix of handguns and rifles. Kissimmee police were stationed at 2211 W. Vine St., while the Sheriff's Office was at 22440 Boggy Creek Road.

Unwanted guns posed a certain threat, Hansell said.

“When you don't want a firearm you don't pay attention to it and it tends to fall in the wrong hands or gets misplaced,” he said.

Norma Girdner, of St. Cloud, stopped at the Kissimmee site to drop off several of her husband's guns, including a handgun and a sawed-off shotgun. She said her husband was disabled and wouldn't need them anymore.

“I don't want them stolen,” she said. “I’d rather it be in the safety of the police department rather than somebody getting hold of it.”

Several illegal sawed-off shotguns were collected by police. Police Capt. James Napier said they're particularly dangerous because they're easy to conceal and the spread pattern of the pellets is greater, allowing a potential criminal gunman to strike more victims than a normal shotgun would allow.

“The shorter the barrel, the wider (pattern) it's going to be,” Napier said.

Kissimmee police also received three samurai-style swords.

The most unique item the Sheriff's Office received was a Japanese World War II rifle, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said.

Authorities did accept pellet guns, but they didn't earn gift cards, which were purchased through law enforcement forfeiture funds.

The Kicks 4 Guns program was originally designed to encourage residents to trade in their unwanted guns for tennis shoes, but the program evolved over the past few years into gift card offerings, authorities said.

There were several drop-off locations in counties and cities across Central Florida. In total, the program collected 1,356 unwanted guns. The weapons will be checked to see if they are stolen, and if so, will be returned to the proper law enforcement jurisdiction. The others will be destroyed, authorities said.