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Organizers held a toy gun swap for community empowerment on Jefferson Avenue

Theo

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Back to Basics Ministries and Buffalo Fathers hosted a toy gun swap Friday night to help combat gun violence in the city of Buffalo.

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Every child or teenager who returned a toy gun received a non-violent toy in exchange.

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Noah Jones, 7, is one of the many children who have come to Jefferson Avenue.

“Now I have a basketball and I’m happy,” he said.

His mother told 7 News reporter Yoselin Person it was a big step for him.

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“They were all his favorites. At first, he didn’t really want to give them away,” the mother said. “But when he realized the huge impact it would have on him to give them back, other toys became an option.”

Noah’s sister, Nylah Jones, 10, says she’s proud of her brother’s courage.

She would like to see more events like this happening in her community.

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“The more this doesn’t happen, the less it’s going to continue to happen, because I don’t want my brother to grow up and start shooting,” she said. “That’s not what I want. I want my brother to grow up to be a good man. A man who will take care of his children when he has them.”

Organizers say they are happy to see more kids like Noah part of the movement.

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“Noah was very reluctant to give up his toy gun. He really didn’t want to do it and a lot of our kids don’t want to do it because they feel empowered by holding a gun,” said Lenny Lane, president of Buffalo Fathers. “We need to stop gun violence, so we need to desensitize them.”

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“But we want to say that guns are not toys. As they grow up and accumulate guns, it’s easier for them to move on to the real thing, the kind that has bullets that actually kill, so we’re changing that,” says Pastor James Giles of Back to Basics Ministries.

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