MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Police Department, the Mayor’s Office and sponsors are buying back guns Saturday, no questions asked.
The event, called “Gas or Groceries for Guns,” will give a $50 gift card to Mapco or Kroger in exchange for each gun turned in, with a limit of three per person. There will also be vouchers and tickets for Grizzlies basketball and University of Memphis football games.
“We know how destructive even one gun can be,” Mayor A C Wharton said. “This is why if we get just one gun off of the streets and out of the wrong hands, Gas or Groceries for Guns will be a success.”
Anyone can attend the event starting at 8 a.m. Saturday at Tiger Lane and turn in guns without fear of questioning or punishment.
“We stand by our words in asking no questions to those who turn in firearms,” MPD Director Toney Armstrong said. “MPD personnel will be totally focused on the safety of the event.”
A committee chairman and pastor of Bloomfield Baptist Church, Rev. Ralph White, said he has counseled people who have wanted to get rid of a gun but had nowhere to take it.
“This event will give people a chance to pull those unwanted guns from under mattresses and out of cabinets and shoe boxes and get them out of their homes,” he said.
This is the third such gun buyback event.
No pellet guns, airsoft guns or BB guns will be accepted.