Amnesty Day pulls guns, explosives off the streets

For 12 hours Saturday, several law enforcement agencies collected firearms and explosives from residents, no questions asked.

The amnesty day was a joint effort of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the U.S. Marine Corps.

The event, which included drop off points on Shanklin Road and in Bluffton, collected a third more guns than last year, in which 19 guns were turned in.

The following were turned in: 30 guns (various pistols, rifles, and shotguns), 6,000 round of ammunition, 77 military CO2 cartridges, 13 military signal flares, 5 pounds of smokeless black powder, two commercial blasting caps, two artillery shells (not live) and a CN gas grenade (circa 1960), plus about 5 pounds of various fireworks.

One gun had been reported stolen in Beaufort County, so the Sheriff's Office is working to return the weapon to its rightful owner.

The goal was to get weapons and other dangerous and/or illegal materials off the streets. The items collected will be destroyed.