Prince George's County Police hold "Gift Cards for Guns." Wthin minutes of the opening they had collect about 30 firearms.
— Kathy Stewart (@KStewart海角社区app)
Prince George's County Police "Gift Cards for Guns" event at First Baptist Church of Glenarden. For turning in an automatic or semi-automatic you get $175 gift card.
— Kathy Stewart (@KStewart海角社区app)
6th yr for Prince George's County Police gift cards for guns program. People drop off firearms anonymously, no questions asked. Within minutes of the event opening police had collected 30 guns.
— Kathy Stewart (@KStewart海角社区app)
WASHINGTON 鈥� 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. 鈥淭here are no questions asked. We鈥檙e 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鈥檚 County Police Department partnered with First Baptist Church of Glenarden, Zion Church and the University of Maryland Prince George鈥檚 Hospital Center. The partners gave away nearly $20,000 in gift cards at Saturday鈥檚 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.
