PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia officials and anti-violence leaders are hosting a gun buyback at two locations in Kensington this weekend.
One of the church locations is just blocks away from a recreation center where a shooter opened fire on Wednesday, leaving a 16-year-old and another woman injured.
Officials including Council President Darrell L. Clarke, Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and Attorney General Josh Shapiro iterated in a Zoom call that they believe the gun buyback strategy has been successful, despite conflicting research reports.
"We're looking at 1,000 guns by the [end of] summer, and we're well on our way," said Clarke.
Bilal Qayyum of the Fathers Day Rally Committee said the gun buyback event is one tool of many they're using to try and reduce gun violence in the city.
"We did our first one in January and collected 227 guns within two hours. We ran out of gift certificates, so we had to close down. [During] our February gun buyback, we collected 157 guns within an hour and a half, so we had to close that down because we ran out of gift certificates," Qayyum said.
Qayyum said he hopes the recent shooting involving a teen at a recreation center near Hancock and Master streets will motivate more people to participate this Saturday.
"The rec center is four blocks south of where this church is," said Qayyum.
"This is a wakeup call for folks in their community. If they have a gun in the house, they have a young child in the house, they will come and be part of our movement to get more guns off the streets of Philadelphia, where most of the guns are stolen guns. They are stolen from someone's car or someone's house."
Shapiro thanked Qayyum for his leadership and service.
"None of us can do this individually. Partnerships are critical," he said.
"It's not just about those guns coming off the streets. It is about those meaningful conversations, those bridges being built that happen at these events ultimately save lives."
The gun buybacks are scheduled for 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday at:
- Bethel Temple Community Bible Church, 228 East Allegheny Avenue
- West Kensington Ministry, 2140 North Hancock Street
As long as what's being turned in is a functioning gun, those who participate can get a $100 supermarket gift card.
An increasing number of young people have been shot in Philadelphia this year. So far, nearly 80 youth under the age of 18 have been shot in the city. Nearly 20 of those victims were killed.
