GREENFIELD — To remove unsecured and possibly dangerous guns from people’s homes, the Greenfield Police Department will host a gun buy-back event on June 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Residents may bring unloaded, working firearms to the police station at 321 High St. in a bag, which can be exchanged for a $50 gift card, no questions asked.
Ammunition will also be accepted, but no cash will be offered for it.
The Northampton Police Department will also be hosting a concurrent event at their own station at 29 Center St., with the same conditions.
The event is sponsored by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, Valley Medical Group, state Senate President Stan Rosenberg’s office and the Hampden County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
Chris Geffen, the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office’s gun buy-back coordinator, said the guns will be ground up by wTe Recycling in Greenfield. Guns of a unique or antique nature may be donated to the Springfield Armory museum for display.
Geffen said the last time the Greenfield police held a gun buy-back in 2013, they collected and destroyed 301 firearms.
She said turning over unused, unneeded or heirloom weapons can substantially reduce the risk of accidental shootings, theft and use of unsecured guns for criminal purposes, and suicide by gun.
“We really encourage people to get them out of their houses, because we understand that criminals aren’t going to give us these guns, but people do inherit them,” Geffen said.
The last reason — suicide — is the primary drive behind the event, Geffen said.
“Suicide by gun, that’s our number one concern,” she said. “If they’re not in the house or available, we hope time will pass and prevent someone from thinking of using a gun to commit suicide. Homicides are down, but suicides are up, by I think a two-to-one ratio. We look at it as a prevention model, instead of a criminal concern.”