Westborough Residents Encouraged to Turn in Guns This Saturday

Saturday, Westborough residents with guns will be encouraged to give them to either Westborough or Worcester Police.

Westborough Police are participating in Worcester Police's annual "Goods for Guns" gun buy back program, set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Worcester Police headquarters, 9-11 Lincoln Square.

Westborough residents interested in turning their guns in have two options, according to the Westborough Police Facebook page: bring the weapon unloaded, wrapped in a bag, on their car's front seat, to the Worcester Police station, where they'll get a gift card to a local merchant; or, call the Westborough Police at 508-366-3060 and arrange for an officer to pick up the unloaded weapon, wrapped in a bag, for no payment.

Free gun safety locks also are available from the Westborough and Worcester Police Departments.

This year's gun buy back program coincides with the first anniversary of the Newtown, Conn. tragedy.

"Even if you get one gun off the streets, to me, that's a success," Westborough Police Chief Alan Gordon told Westborough Patch on Tuesday.

Although in Westborough "we very seldom have gun violence," he said, "any step that you take that reduces the risk to the public is worth the effort."

Gordon noted that in October, Congregation B'nai Shalom in Westborough hosted A Forum on Preventing Gun Violence. Congregation B’nai Shalom and the Greater Worcester Coalition Against Gun Violence co-sponsored the forum.

Gordon said he had heard about the event from Ilyse Levine-Kanji, attended it, and then asked Worcester Police Deputy Chief Ed McGinn if Westborough Police could join Worcester's gun buyback effort.

"I didn't think just us doing it alone would be that successful," Gordon said.

Levine-Kanji said Tuesday that gift cards to local merchants will be available to anyone who brings their weapon to the Worcester Police station.

Stop & Shop in Westborough donated gift cards, she said. Donations also came from Price Chopper, Wegmans, the district attorney's office, City of Worcester, UMass Memorial Medical Center, and Jim's Pizza, she said.

The gift card amounts are listed on the Westborough Police Facebook page as follows:

• automatic/semi-automatic weapon: $75
• Handgun: $50
• Long gun: $25