Bilal Qayyum, who runs Father's Day Rally Committee, teamed up with Philadelphia police, City Council and other community organizations last month to launch the gun giveback campaign as a means to curb gun violence. The initiative asked city residents to search their homes and their kids’ rooms for illegal guns and turn them in.
Qayyum wants to kick off the effort this year, “collecting as many guns as we can to help get these guns off the streets.”
During two weekends in December, community groups collected about two dozen guns, acting as a safe third-party liaison. The guns were then turned over to police.
“They were semi-automatic and automatic guns, and one of them was an AK-47,” Qayyum said.
On Jan. 11, guns will be collected from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at two locations:
Tenth Memorial Baptist Church
1328 N. 19th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19121
Trinity United Methodist Church
1814 Wharton St.
Philadelphia, PA 19146