Maryland residents can anonymously trade their firearms at the fourth annual “Gift Cards for Guns” buyback event Saturday.
Residents in 2022 turned in 131 guns, inlcuding 40 shotguns and rifles, 40 handguns, and 51 automatic or semi-automatic weapons for the event hosted by First Baptist Church of Glenarden, Zion Church and Prince George’s County Police Department, according to Washington Informer. The aim of the initiative is to “reduce gun violence by getting guns off the streets.”
Mark your calendar for the annual “Gift Cards for Guns” event on November 18th from 10am-1pm. See you there! pic.twitter.com/pT1djnASx2
— PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) November 17, 2023
“The church must play an active role to work with our local government to help to keep our communities safe,” senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden John K. Jenkins Sr. told Washington Informer. (RELATED: Gun Controllers Indoctrinate Kids With Toy Gun Turn-In)
However, Amanda Charbonneau, a researcher at the RAND Corporation, told The Trace that the effects of firearm buybacks on reducing crime are largely negligible.
“Turning in small numbers of firearms does not change the fact that they are readily available in many places. And so you still have a flow of firearms through a community. If you think of it as a supply-side intervention, the supply is barely affected,” she said.
Sergeant Rodney Gause of Prince George’s County Police Department, who has volunteered with the buyback for the past three years, suggested that the buyback is good for families who inherit firearms and aren’t sure what to do with them, according to Washington Informer.
“Unfortunately, if someone breaks in, they can steal those guns that are really not used and permitted in the home. So, it’s good we can … give this opportunity to folks who want to get rid of guns that they really don’t want so they don’t ultimately end up on the streets,” Gause stated.