Police departments across the state plan to participate in the Fifth Annual #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Statewide Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway Day, returning this year from 10 am to 1 pm Saturday, November 1, at locations including Newtown Police Department, 191 South Main Street.

The Campaign to Keep Kids Safe (CKKS) was established in 2019 by The Newtown Action Alliance Foundation and The Ethan Miller Song Foundation as an educational program for parents, educators & healthcare professionals to reduce unintentional shootings among children and childhood gun suicides and homicides in America; to provide gun safes to gun owners; and to promote community gun buyback opportunities.

CKKS encourages communities to host voluntary gun buyback and biometric gun safe giveaway events to offer an opportunity for gun owners to remove unwanted weapons safely from their homes and communities and help to promote gun safety and safe firearm storage practices.

During the first three annual #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Statewide Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway Days, over 1178 guns, including 23 assault weapons, were collected, and over 828 gun safes and hundreds of gun safety educational materials were distributed.

The voluntary gun buyback and safe firearm storage events in the participating communities will offer an opportunity for gun owners to safely remove their unwanted weapons from their homes and communities. These events will also promote gun safety and safe firearm storage.

For gun owners who want to keep their guns but seek a responsible way to better secure their weapons, a limited supply of pin code gun safes will be provided free of charge to those with a valid gun permit.

Event Details

Buyback and safe giveaway events are 100% anonymous; IDs are not required and no questions will be asked.

The gun buyback and gun safe storage giveaway day is a community safety initiative that will help all gun owners to dispose of unwanted and/or unsecured guns to help reduce the risk of homicides, suicides, unintentional shootings, and domestic violence, and keep guns from getting into the wrong hands — such as children, individuals who may be facing a mental health crisis, individuals with dementia, perpetrators of domestic violence, and criminals.

The buybacks will provide gift cards to individuals who turn in an operable firearm.

Guns must be transported in the trunk of the car. Non-operable guns, BB guns, and ammunition are welcome, but no gift cards will be exchanged for these items.

Buyback prices offered are $25 for single and double shot (Derringer-style) handguns and any type of black powder guns; $50 for rifles and shotguns; $100 for pistol and revolver handguns; and $200 for assault weapons (per Connecticut summary of gun laws, to be determined by police).

Newly sawed-off shotguns will not be accepted.

Guns must be delivered unloaded in clear plastic bags, and any ammunition must be delivered in a separate bag in the trunk of the car. Please note, COVID-19 guidelines will be strictly enforced. All participants must wear a mask and comply with all social distancing guidelines.

In addition to Newtown, buyback locations are being planned this year at CT Violence Intervention Program, 230 Ashmun Street, New Haven; Danbury Police Department, 375 Main Street; Guilford Police Department, 400 Church Street (9 am-1 pm); Hartford Police Department, 50 Jennings Road (9 am-3 pm); Meriden Police Department, 30 Butler Street; Norwalk Police Department, 1 Monroe Street; Stamford Police Department, 725 Bedford Street; and Waterbury PD Training Center, 240 Bank Street (9 am-1 pm).

The following towns will participate in the gun safe giveaway (but not the gun buyback):

Cheshire Police Department, 500 Highland Avenue; New Britain Police Department, 642 Christian Lane, Berlin; CT Violence Intervention Program, 230 Ashmun Street in New Haven; New London Police Department, 5 Governor Winthrop Boulevard; Plainfield Police Department, 210 Norwich Road (9 am-noon); Trumbull Emergency Medical Services, 250 Middlebrooks Avenue; and Waterford Police Department, 41 Avery Lane.

Participating organizations also supporting the program include City of Waterbury, CT Against Gun Violence Education Fund, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center,

CT Chapter of The American College of Surgeons, CT Department of Public Health, CT Violence Intervention Program, Hartford Hospital, The Hospital of Central Connecticut, Midstate Medical Center, Mothers United Against Violence, Nuvance/Northwell Health, Project Longevity-Waterbury, Saint Francis Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, Stamford Health, Stamford PAL, Waterbury Hospital, Waterbury PAL, and Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Visit NewtownActionAllianceFoundation.org for additional information.