LYNNWOOD, Wash., August 30, 2023—The Lynnwood Police Department held their first ever Gun Buy Back Program on August 26, receiving 56 guns in exchange for $7,000 in gift cards.

The Lynnwood Police Gun Buyback program aims to reduce gun violence within the community and to reduce the likelihood of accidental injuries and suicides by firearms.

For individual households, gun buyback programs lessen the likelihood of gun violence, accidental or intentional, occurring in the home, according to LPD. The buyback program allows our community to dispose of unwanted firearms legally, lessening the chance they fall into the wrong hands and are used in gun-related crimes or suicides.

LPD has no intention of taking away a responsible gun owner’s firearm, it says. This voluntary program is geared toward those uncomfortable with firearms in their home or no longer using them, affording them a safe, legal way to dispose of them.

Buyback programs are one part of a broader effort to reduce gun violence and serve as opportunities to educate communities about gun violence reduction strategies.

A $25 gift card was granted for inoperable firearms and receivers, $100 gift cards for rifles and shotguns, $200 were given for handguns, and $250 for AR-15 and AK-47-style machine guns.

For the first couple of hours, participants had to prove they were Lynnwood residents to receive a gift card, but the event was later open to anyone in the county. The Department says the guns turned in will be first checked to see if had been used in a crime. If it had, it will be stored as evidence. If not, it will be destroyed, displayed (if historically significant) or used by the Lynnwood PD for training purposes.

The program does not allow others to purchase the surrendered guns from the Lynnwood PD.

Mukilteo PD had a similar event on February 25, 2023, receiving 32 guns and distributing $2,400 in gift cards.