The three host churches for this weekend’s buyback include the Sacred Heart Parish Hall in New Brunswick, the Sayre Woods Bible Church in Old Bridge, and Cathedral International in Perth Amboy.

Between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday and again on Saturday, residents can turn in a maximum of three firearms of any type “no questions asked” and receive up to $250 per weapon.  Police officers will be stationed at the three churches to collect and secure the guns. The Attorney General’s Office is paying for the buyback with criminal forfeiture funds provided by its Division of Criminal Justice. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is contributing forfeiture monies as well.

“This weekend’s gun buyback is a collaborative effort involving members of law enforcement and people from throughout the community who are united in their determination to have safer cities, a safer county, and a safer state,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “Our goal is to take a lot of dangerous weapons out of circulation before they’re used to maim or kill someone, and to improve everyone’s quality of life as a result.”

This weekend’s gun buyback – the 10th state-led “Guns for Cash” buyback event since last December -- involves the Attorney General’s Office, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, the state Division of Criminal Justice, the New Jersey State Police, the New Brunswick, Old Bridge and Perth Amboy police departments, and the faith-based community in Middlesex County.

Acting Attorney General Hoffman thanked the Sacred Heart Parish Hall, the Sayre Woods Bible Church and Cathedral International for hosting the Middlesex County gun buyback, and urged residents to take advantage of this two-day opportunity to earn extra money by turning in their firearms.

Sacred Heart Parish Hall is located at 115 Commercial Avenue, New Brunswick. (Parking for the Sacred Heart location is on Townsend Street.)  Sayre Woods Bible Church is located at 2290 Route 9 South, between Jake Brown Road and Route 516 in Old Bridge. Cathedral International is located at 282 Madison Avenue in Perth Amboy.

Hoffman urged residents to use extreme caution in transporting their weapons.  Under state law,  guns must be transported unloaded and secured in a closed and fastened case, gun box or securely tied package, or be locked in the trunk of the vehicle in which they’re being carried.

To date,  more than 14,000 firearms have been taken off the streets in New Jersey as a result of state-led gun buybacks, including more than 6,500 handguns and upwards of 1,700 illegal guns – firearms with unlawfully high magazine capacities, or weapons that have been sawed-off or otherwise illegally modified.

Residents with questions about the gun buyback program can call the Attorney General’s Citizen Services unit at (609) 984-5828 or visit www.nj.gov/guns.

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