WORCESTER (WBZ-AM) -- UMass Memorial Medical Center is sponsoring a gun buyback program this weekend.
This is the 16th Annual Goods For Guns program across Worcester County--a program that has collected more than 3,400 guns over the years.
UMass Dr. Michael Hirsh told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens that people can drop off guns at area police departments across the county on Saturday.
"Our object is essentially to give people in the community the opportunity, the agency, to rid their homes of unsecured or unwanted weapons," he said.
Dr. Hirsh said the hospital is sponsoring because gun violence is very much a public health issue.
Guns will be exchanged for gift cards supplied by UMass Memorial Health Care.
They are offering $25 for a rifle or replica gun, $50 for a pistol, and $75 for a semiautomatic weapon of any kind--and the police stations are also giving out free trigger locks
"Unloaded, inoperable weapons can be brought in to these retrieval sites, and in exchange for that, they can get gift certificates to local grocery stores," Dr. Hirsh said.
The event will also honor the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
A number of Worcester County communities are participating.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports