Before the Gun Is Fired: Why Santa Rosa’s Gun Buyback Matters

Somewhere in Santa Rosa, a firearm is probably sitting in the back of a closet, tucked into a drawer, or stored in a box that hasn’t been opened in years.

Maybe it belonged to a husband who died. Maybe it was inherited from a parent. Perhaps its owner bought it decades ago and no longer wants it.

Nothing may ever happen with that gun.

But it could also be discovered by a child, stolen during a burglary, grabbed during a domestic dispute, or become dangerously accessible during a moment of suicidal crisis.

On Oct. 3, Santa Rosa residents will have the opportunity to permanently remove firearms like these from their homes.

The Santa Rosa Police Department will host a community gun buyback from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building. Participants can anonymously exchange functional firearms for cash — $150 for handguns, rifles, and shotguns, and $250 for assault weapons and privately made “ghost guns.”

The firearms will be destroyed. The funds will come from the nonprofit Santa Rosa Police Foundation, not from city funds.

Will the event solve Santa Rosa’s gun violence problem?

No.

And we should not pretend that it will.

But that is not the same as saying it does not matter.

A useful tool, not a cure

Research on gun buybacks requires us to be candid about their limitations.

Studies have generally not found that traditional, stand-alone buyback programs produce measurable reductions in community firearm crime. A recent Philadelphia study, for example, found no statistically significant reduction in gun crimes or firearm-related calls after buyback events. Earlier research has reached similar conclusions.

That makes sense when we consider who typically participates.

A person carrying an illegally possessed handgun, expecting a confrontation on the street, is unlikely to drive to a police buyback to exchange it for $150. The firearm surrendered by an elderly widow or someone cleaning out a parent’s home is probably not the same one police encounter in violent crimes.

But judging a gun buyback solely on whether it reduces the homicide rate overlooks much of its potential value.

Removing an unwanted firearm from a home eliminates the possibility that that particular firearm will be accidentally discharged in that home, stolen from the home, or accessed during a crisis.

Research has also described gun buybacks as opportunities for injury prevention, firearm-safety education, and raising community awareness, even when their effect on overall crime is limited.

Santa Rosa has seen that people want such an option available.

SRPD’s 2022 annual report says its previous buyback collected 423 firearms.

Four hundred twenty-three guns that people no longer wanted in their homes were permanently removed from circulation.

That is not 423 fewer crimes.

It is 423 fewer opportunities for those particular firearms to become part of one.

Prevention starts before the trigger is pulled

The Oct. 3 event also comes at a time when Santa Rosa has reason to be concerned about firearms in the community.

According to information prepared by Police Chief John Cregan, officers seized 301 firearms as evidence in the first six months of 2026, compared with 190 in the same period last year. The department’s data also show a significant increase in firearm seizures over the past decade and ongoing seizures of ghost guns.

Those numbers deserve attention.

But as someone who spent much of my career in law enforcement and later worked on comprehensive violence prevention efforts, I have learned that we cannot arrest our way out of violence.

Police officers play an essential role. They must respond to shootings, investigate crimes, remove illegally possessed firearms, and hold violent offenders accountable.

But by the time an officer recovers a gun at a crime scene, much of our opportunity for prevention has already passed.

True prevention happens farther upstream.

It happens when young people have meaningful connections to adults, schools, and communities before gangs or violence offer them an alternative sense of belonging.

It happens when outreach workers and credible messengers intervene with people at greatest risk of being shot or of shooting.

It happens when behavioral health professionals reach someone in crisis.

It happens through safe firearm storage, domestic violence prevention, family support, reentry services, and focused law enforcement directed at the relatively small number of people driving serious violence.

And sometimes prevention is as simple as helping someone remove an unwanted firearm from the house.

California’s Department of Public Health now approaches firearm violence in much the same way. Its statewide roadmap emphasizes that preventing firearm violence requires a comprehensive approach, including strengthening families and social supports, improving neighborhood conditions, promoting firearm safety, and using community violence intervention strategies.

That is also the philosophy behind the Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership: prevention, intervention, enforcement, and reentry working together rather than competing with one another.

Suicide prevention belongs in this conversation

One of the strongest arguments for removing unwanted firearms has relatively little to do with traditional street crime.

It is suicide prevention.

The California Department of Public Health emphasizes “lethal means safety” — creating distance between a person in a suicidal crisis and a firearm or other highly lethal method.

That matters because suicidal crises are often temporary, whereas firearms leave little room for a second chance. California health officials report that about nine out of 10 suicide attempts involving firearms are fatal. Reducing immediate access can provide time for intervention and support.

A firearm sitting untouched in a closet for 20 years may appear harmless.

Until the worst night of someone’s life.

That does not mean every firearm represents an imminent danger. Millions of lawful gun owners store and use their firearms responsibly.

It means risk changes with circumstances.

Removing a firearm that nobody wants is a very practical way to eliminate that risk altogether.

More than a one-day event

There is another reason this buyback matters.

For four hours on a Saturday morning, Santa Rosa will be talking about gun violence prevention.

The news media will cover it. Families will discuss whether there is an old firearm in their home. People will learn about safe disposal, and some will think about firearm storage differently.

That public attention has value — but only if we use it.

The buyback should become an opportunity to discuss safe storage, suicide prevention, domestic violence, youth violence, illegal firearm trafficking, ghost guns, and the broader work already underway to prevent violence.

It is also an opportunity to ask a larger question:

What happens after Oct. 3?

A successful gun buyback should not be measured solely by how many firearms are stacked on tables at the end of the day.

Santa Rosa should continue developing a long-term, data-informed strategy to reduce firearm violence, with measurable goals and shared responsibility among law enforcement, schools, behavioral health providers, community organizations, youth-serving agencies, neighborhood leaders, and people with lived experience.

We should understand where shootings are occurring, who is at greatest risk, what circumstances are driving them, and which interventions are producing results.

We should invest not only in responding to violence but also in preventing the conditions that allow it to flourish.

A buyback can remove guns.

A long-term strategy must reduce the reasons people pick them up.

Why This Matters Today

Gun violence debates often lead us to false choices.

We are told we must choose between enforcement and prevention. Between respecting lawful gun ownership and promoting firearm safety. Between holding offenders accountable and addressing the conditions that contribute to violence.

We do not have to choose.

Comprehensive public safety requires all of those elements.

The Oct. 3 gun buyback will not end gun violence in Santa Rosa. No credible person should claim it will.

But if an unwanted gun is removed from a home before a child finds it, before a burglar steals it, before a domestic argument escalates, or before someone reaches for it during a suicidal crisis, its removal matters.

Just as important, the event gives Santa Rosa another opportunity to remind us that gun violence is not simply a police problem.

It is a community problem requiring a community-wide response.

We should support the buyback for what it can accomplish while recognizing its limits. Then we should use the attention it draws to recommit ourselves to the harder work that follows—building and sustaining a comprehensive strategy that combines prevention, intervention, enforcement, and reentry.

Because the best firearm seizure will always be the one we never have to make at a crime scene.

The real goal is not simply taking guns off tables on Oct. 3.

It is preventing the next gun from ever being fired.