On February 2, 2013, John Wesley United Methodist Church in Falmouth, Massachusetts in cooperation with the Falmouth Police Department hosted a successful gun buy-back program.  The idea of the buyback was conceived by parishioner Tiffany Van Mooy, in the wake of the Newtown Connecticut school shootings, as a way for residents to safely dispose of unwanted firearms. Van Mooy and her pastor, Rev. Dr. David Calhoun, organized the event in consultation with Acting Police Chief Edward Dunne. 

The event took place at the church, and people who participated in the buyback received supermarket gift cards in exchange for their guns. Ten-thousand dollars was raised in donations from the church and the local community. All those funds were dispersed through gift cards at the buy back event, and another three-thousand dollars of IOU’s were written for additional weapons. Ongoing fund raising continues in an effort to pay off that debt. 

A total of 206 rifles, shotguns, and pistols of varying makes and models, as well as three large containers of ammunition were turned in that day; all of which will be destroyed by the Massachusetts State Police. The church hopes to conduct another buy-back program later in the year. 

Find out more about the program details and ways you can support this effort at http://www.jwumcfalmouth.org/FalmouthGunBuybackProgram

For more information, contact Rev. David Calhoun at DavidImagine166@aol.com or at 508-548-3050.

(Photo by Julie Calhoun)