'Cash For Guns' Buyback Returning To Brooklyn This Weekend

BROOKLYN, NY — A "Cash for Guns" buyback program that offers $200 for people who turn in their firearms is returning to Brooklyn this weekend.

The NYPD and the District Attorney's Office are holding the "no questions asked" buyback on Saturday in East New York, the Brooklyn neighborhood that has been hardest-hit by a citywide surge in shootings.

The guns can be turned in at the St. Paul Community Baptist Church on Hendrix Street between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The $200 pre-paid card will be given for assault rifles and handguns, while a $25 pre-paid card is offered for rifles, shotguns and airguns, according to the flyer.

The event hails back to an initiative that was once used frequently across the city and seems to pop up during spikes in gun violence.

Experts have said the event likely doesn't do much to curb gun violence in New York City, though others say any guns taken off the streets are a positive, according to a report by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle late last year. The last buyback in Brooklyn before Saturday's was held in 2016.

This weekend's event comes as North Brooklyn is dealing with a more than 100 percent spike in shootings compared to 2019, according to NYPD data. East New York's 75th Precinct has seen the most shootings, followed by the 73rd Precinct, Crown Heights' 77th Precinct and Bed-Stuy's two precincts.

The communications director for the District Attorney's Office has said the buyback is "one tool among many" to curb the violence.