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Longmont United Church of Christ hosts gun buyback

Guns will be turned into garden tools and art
Safe Storage Giveaway (3 of 8)
Volunteers Lois Joyce and Karen Henderson showing off the gun safes being given away as part of July event at Longmont United Church of Christ

A firearm buyback on Sept. 25 at Longmont United Church of Christ is not about politics but a person’s desire to get rid of a gun or scale back the number of guns they have in their home or apartment.

So says Rev. Sarah Verasco, who is overseeing the buyback along with community partners Longmont Public Safety, RAWtools Inc. and Longmont Community Foundation. Out Boulder County was also listed as a sponsor on a Facebook post from Longmont Public Safety.

A representative from El Comite will be there as a “cultural broker” and to translate for those donating their guns and whose first language is Spanish, Verasco said.

“This is an initiative for people who no longer want to be gun owners or who want to have fewer guns in their life,” Verasco said. “We are just asking people to reexamine the relationship they have with guns in their lives.”

And, she said, “this is an easy and anonymous way to basically discard a gun.”

The event is patterned after a July effort in which the church gave away 138 biometric pin-code safes and 55 vehicle lock boxes to store guns. “That was a huge success,” Verasco said. “The event started at 9 a.m. and we had people lined up at 8 a.m.”

Participants will be asked to come to the church’s parking lot between 10a.m. and 1 p.m. with their unloaded guns in the trunks of their car, Verasco said. “We are not accepting ammunition,” she said.

All the guns will be disabled in the presence of the person who brings a firearm to the event. What remains are gun parts that will be fashioned into garden tools and works of art by a blacksmith from RAWtools, Verasco said.

People can enjoy live music while watching the blacksmith work between 2-4 p.m., at the church’s courtyard at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Francis St., Verasco said. A food truck will also be there.  

“It will be a community celebration,” she said. “This will be one way we can reduce gun violence in our community.”

For additional information, call the United Church of Christ at 303-776-4940.