Wildlife group turns unwanted guns into money for habitat

It’s not just police agencies in Saskatchewan that are finding a way for unwanted guns to do some good.

As police begin a province-wide gun amnesty program Thursday, the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation is reminding people a gun can be more than destroyed when it’s no longer in use.

For more than 20 years, the conservation group has held an annual campaign known as Guns for Habitat to make use of unwanted guns.

“If they are good and operational, we will turn them around and sell them at our fundraising dinners,” said Darren Newberry, a habitat co-ordinator with the organization.

Legal guns can be donated to the wildlife federation, where the group sells them to further its cause across the province.

“It’s been successful over the years. We’ve taken a number of (firearms), we’ve been able to take the money that we have received for selling them, turning them around and buying habitat for wildlife.”

Once the gun is accepted, donors receive a tax-deductible receipt for the sold price.

If the gun can’t be sold, with the donor’s consent, the firearm will be deactivated and used for safety instruction.

Newberry said the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation owns roughly 68,000 acres of land in the province. With the amnesty program officially underway, he wanted to remind people of the program.

“It just gives people the opportunity,” he said. “If they have some firearms that are unwanted that they no longer wish to have, they have the option to turn them into the Saskatchewan Wild Life Federation.”

Handguns and prohibited guns are not accepted.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Daniella Ponticelli.