Cambridge Safer Homes Safer Community: Gun Buy-Back Day Saturday, June 9

Led by Cambridge’s interfaith-based organizations, non-profit community and regional partners, the 4th annual citywide “Safer Homes, Safer Community: Cambridge Gun Buy-Back” initiative is being hosted on Saturday, June 9 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Grocery gift cards will be exchanged for all guns turned in.

This public health and public safety event will provide residents with an opportunity to anonymously and safely dispose of their unwanted firearms and, in turn, reduce the potential for an accidental discharge or wrongdoing in a home.  In the past three years, Cambridge alone has collected 122 guns, including an assault rifle and a loaded handgun. More than 800 guns have been collected in nearly a dozen Middlesex County cities and towns in the past five years.

The Pentecostal Tabernacle will provide a safe, convenient location for participants to drop off unwanted guns with no questions asked and no ID required. 

Pentecostal Tabernacle
77 Columbia Street (near Central Square)
Drop off:  Church parking lot

Cambridge Police and the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office will be handling the guns turned in, and the State Police will destroy the guns. For added convenience, the Cambridge Police will be available to pick-up firearms at a Cambridge residence, if interested participants are not able or have concerns about physically dropping off unwanted firearms. To schedule a pickup, please call 617-349-3300.

As an incentive to participate, residents will be awarded gift cards for each firearm they turn into public safety officers on the day of the event.  The values range depending on the firearm type:

Children who turn in any toy guns will be eligible to receive a $5 ice cream gift card to Toscanini’s Ice Cream.

For those who cannot attend the event, gift cards will be honored if pickups are scheduled during the month of June. To schedule a pickup, please call (617) 349-3300.

For more information on Cambridge’s Gift Cards for Guns, please visit camb.ma/GiftCardsforGuns. If you or your organization is interested in becoming involved in the event (e.g. donate gift cards, volunteer at the event or help post flyers in advance of the event), please e-mail lori@manyhelpinghands365.org.   

The following Cambridge interfaith organizations and community partners have already committed to collaborating on this important initiative: Abundant Life Church, A Place to Heal Ministry, Calvary Praise & Worship Center, Cambridgeport Baptist Church, Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, Christian Mission Holiness Church, Congregation Eitz Chayim, Christ Church, First Church in Cambridge Congregational, Friends Meeting Cambridge, Harvard Epworth United Methodist Church, Harvard Memorial Church, Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge, Journey Church, Kingdom Empowerment Center, Massachusetts Avenue Baptist Church, Parish of Saint Paul, Pentecostal Tabernacle, Reservoir Church, Rush AME Zion Church, St. James Episcopal Church, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Temple Beth Shalom, Union Baptist Church, Western Avenue Baptist Church, Cambridge Community Arts Center, Cambridge Community Foundation, Cambridge Community Center, Cambridge YWCA, East End House, Many Helping Hands 365, Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House, Transition House, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, CambridgeSide, Fresh Pond Market, Harvard Square Business Association, Pemberton Market, Star Market/Shaw’s, Toscanini’s, Trader Joes, Whole Foods Market, Cambridge Council on Aging, Cambridge Domestic & Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge Peace Commission, Cambridge Police Department, Cambridge Public Health Department, Cambridge Veteran’s Services, Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, Massachusetts State Police, and more.