PALM COAST, Fla. -- A gun buyback conducted by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office resulted in 71 guns being turned in and 20 pounds of unwanted prescription pills collected.

Flagler residents had the chance to turn in any unwanted firearms and prescription pills with no questions asked during the buyback at the Town Center in Palm Coast.

Flagler County Sheriff Donald W. Fleming said he was pleased with the community's response to the sheriff's office's first gun buyback.

"We received some good feedback from those who came here today.  Our residents appreciated the opportunity to get rid of these firearms in a safe and controlled environment," Sheriff Fleming said. "This is something we will look at repeating in the future."

The event lasted four hours. All of the 71 firearms were checked and none of them had been reported stolen.

Flagler County Sheriff's Office Captain Lynne Catoggio organized the buyback. The law enforcement agency used a $7,000 grant to fund the buyback.

Captain Catoggio said, "We really worked to combine two events that would benefit a wide range of residents. I believe we have accomplished our objective, with the support of the County Commission, which was to get unwanted guns and prescription drugs out of homes and off the street."

First Coast News