WASHINGTON — People waited outside of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Saturday morning to trade in their guns for gift cards.
Within minutes of kicking off this year’s “Gift Cards for Guns,” Prince George’s County police collected more than 30 guns, said Cpl. Harry Bond.
The trade-in program started in 2012 and aims to make the community safer by taking guns off the streets.
Each shotgun or rifle was worth a $75 gift card, a handgun was worth a $125 gift card, and each semi-automatic handed in earned a $175 gift card.
“One guy came in with a bin full of handguns, and he will get a gift card for each handgun he brought in,” said Bond. “There are no questions asked. We’re not checking any IDs.”
Officers first check if the guns were stolen; if they were, they are returned to the rightful owner. All other firearms are melted down.
The Prince George’s County Police Department partnered with First Baptist Church of Glenarden, Zion Church and the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center. The partners gave away nearly $20,000 in gift cards at Saturday’s event.
This year, the department collected 161 firearms: 59 long guns and 102 handguns. In 2015, they gathered about 300 firearms.
On the way out of the event, one woman smiled and said she was going to the mall to spend her gift card.