WSET.com - ABC13New State Guidelines for Gun Buyback Programs

Lynchburg, VA - A group of Lynchburg-area pastors are up in arms about a bill they believe will keep guns on our streets.

This week, House Bill 22 passed through the Virginia Senate and is now set to be signed into law by the governor. Opponents say it takes aim at gun buy-back programs. The new law now puts restrictions on these programs and makes it illegal to destroy the guns that are turned in.

In the winter of 2009, the group Churches United for Service offered raffle tickets for a 2004 Chevy Impala to anyone who turned in a gun. Back then, they seized nearly a dozen firearms.

Local pastors have been planning to do it again.

"There are forces at work to prevent us from doing what we are trying to do," said Dr. James Coleman of Churches United for Service.

He's talking about House Bill 22, which passed this week in the General Assembly.  It now forbids local buy-back programs without a city or county ordinance authorizing it.

"It's been a good program in the past. The partnership with the police department and the churches that have come out in the past have been excellent," said Lynchburg City Councilman Turner Perrow.

Perrow says an ordinance won't be a problem. The real concern for church leaders is knowing what will happen to the turned in guns.

"In this country, four people die every hour from gun shot wounds," said Dr. Coleman.

In the past, the guns were destroyed. The new law requires they be sold back to a licensed dealer.

"It doesn't restrict what we've been doing in the past except it opens up the possibility that we can actually sell these guns and receive some revenue for it," said Perrow.

While it might generate new funds, it still doesn't sit well with Churches United for Service.

"We just hope and pray that the guns won't end up in somebody's hands that will create challenges for our community," said Dr. Coleman.

This gun buy back law was actually drafted by the National Rifle Association. It's expected to become law on July 1.