Unload Your Gun: Buyback Coming To Worcester Area

WORCESTER, MA — An annual pre-Christmas gun buyback event is back this year. On Saturday, gun owners can anonymously turn in firearms in exchange for grocery store gift cards worth up to $75.

This is the 20th year UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center surgeon Dr. Michael Hirsh has staged the all-anonymous buyback, an effort to remove potentially unsecured weapons from homes. The Worcester County District Attorney, Wegmans and local police cosponsor the event.

"We ask gun owners across the community to take a step back and assess how their situation may have changed over the past year. Perhaps they now have a curious toddler in their life, or a family member struggling with depression or substance use disorder,” Hirsh said in a news release. “If there is a newfound risk level they are uncomfortable with, we encourage them to participate in this year’s drive to help reduce gun-related accidents.”

The program has collected some 3,700 guns over the decades, Hirsh said. Police will also be handing out free gun locks during the event to gun owners.

The program is pretty simple: anyone can bring a firearm to one of nine locations across Worcester County on Saturday in exchange for gift card: $75 for semi or fully automatic guns, $50 for pistols and $25 for rifles. People who turn in guns get to remain anonymous.

Here's where you can turn in a gun on Saturday during the "Goods for Guns Buyback":

• Auburn Police Department, 416 Oxford St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Northborough Police Department, 211 Main St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Barre Police Department, 655 South St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
• Northbridge Police Department, 1 Hope St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
• Dudley Police Department, 71 West Main St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
• Spencer Police Department, 9 West Main St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
• Fitchburg Police Department, 20 Elm St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  
• Worcester Police Department, 9 Lincoln Square, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Leominster Police Department, 29 Church St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit the UMass Memorial website for more details on the event and what types of weapons will be accepted.