Gas for Guns exchange happening Saturday

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The 'No Questions Asked' gun buyback program will offer $50 to $300 in gas coupons for each qualifying handgun and assault weapon.

On Saturday, April 1, 2017, from 10 a.m. until noon, people can bring guns to the Elm Grove Baptist Church parking lot, 1069 N. 38th Street, and trade them in for a gas card.

According to BRAVE, similar Gas for Guns programs in Baton Rouge have collected 741 unsecured guns since 2010. Every year, crimes are committed with unsecured guns that have been stolen or used without the owners' permission.

At the Elm Grove Baptist Church officers will take the firearms without asking questions about the donors' identities or how they came to be in possession of the guns. The exchange program assists non-commercial, private citizens and is limited to two firearms per person until all gas cards have been exhausted.

Any functional, non-replica pistol or revolver smaller than 0.380 caliber can be exchanged for a $50 gas card.

Pistols that are 0.380 caliber or greater can be swapped for gas cards totaling $100 in value.

The program will pay $300 in gas cards for each "Assault Style" rifle, as long as they are a functional variant of an automatic or semiautomatic rifle that is currently in use by military forces with a caliber of 9 mm, 7.62 mm or 5.56 mm.

Any other firearm or ammunition may also be dropped off for safe disposal and destruction by law enforcement without a gas card exchange.

Donors arriving by car should place their firearms in the trunk. Donors arriving on foot should place their firearms in a sealed or closed container, such as a bag, backpack or box. Donors who are uncomfortable taking a firearm to an exchange site can call the local Police and Sheriff station at any time to make arrangements for unwanted firearm and ammunition collection. However, gas cards will only be provided at the "Gas for Guns" program.

This exchange is made possible with the cooperation of Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, District Attorney Hillar Moore, III, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux and Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie. This year's gun buyback program was made possible by a donation from the Circle K Corporation and matching funds from local law enforcement drug seizure and asset forfeitures.

The East Baton Rouge "Gas for Guns" exchange program is made possible by the following community partners: Circle K Corporation, Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish, East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, Baton Rouge City Police Department, Baton Rouge City Constable's Office, District Attorney's Office, Louisiana State Police, U.S. Attorney's Office, Baton Rouge Crimestoppers and Elm Grove Baptist Church.

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