‘Operation Safe Homes’ Gun Turn-in Event Scheduled for Two Days This Month

(The following information was provided by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.)

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Montgomery County police chiefs haved announced a free, gun turn-in event on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and Saturday, Nov. 19 at police departments throughout Montgomery County. This event, called “Operation Safe Homes,” is a public service to help people get rid of unwanted guns. There is no payment for the guns. All unloaded firearms will be accepted, and all collected firearms will be destroyed. No bullets, magazines or clips will be accepted.

“Firearms are now the number one cause of death for children. That is a sickening statistic. Millions of homes have firearms and many of those firearms are loaded and not in a gun safe, but ‘hidden.’ Studies show that children know where the family keeps a firearm,” said Steele. “And with a number of recent shootings and homicides in Montgomery County involving teenagers, as well as social media promoting gun carrying by teens, parents may want to have some tough conversations with their teens and take a look around. We’ll accept those guns, too, and maybe save some lives in the process.”

Unwanted guns will be accepted 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 at these 12 Montgomery County police departments, as well as the Pennsylvania State Police Skippack Barracks, serving as “Operation Safe Homes” drop-off locations:

• Abington Township Police Department, 1166 Old York Rd., Abington
• East Norriton Township Police Department, 2501 Stanbridge St., East Norriton
• Hatfield Township Police Department, 2000 School Rd., Hatfield
• Lower Merion Township Police Department, 71 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore
• Marlborough Township Police Department, 6040 Upper Ridge Rd., Green Lane
• New Hanover Police Department, 2373 Hoffmansville Rd., Frederick
• Pennsylvania State Police—Skippack Barracks, 2047C Bridge Rd., Schwenksville
• Plymouth Township Police Department, 700 Belvoir Rd., Plymouth Meeting
• Pottstown Borough Police Department, 100 E. High St., Pottstown
• Springfield Township Police Department, 1510 Paper Mill Rd., Wyndmoor
• Upper Dublin Township Police Department, 520 Virginia Drive, Fort Washington
• Upper Merion Township Police Department, 175 W. Valley Forge Rd., King of Prussia
• Upper Providence Township Police, 1286 Black Rock Rd., Oaks

“In 2018 and 2019, when we previously held these events, we collected 170 unwanted guns of a variety of types including semi-automatic handguns, revolvers, and long guns. Residents, especially elderly widows, were profuse in thanking us for holding this event and allowing them to get rid of guns they did not want,” said Steele. “But let me be very clear: we are not taking guns away from anyone. This is a community service to any gun-owning resident who has decided to get guns out of their house and permanently off the street. It doesn’t matter what type of firearm—from long guns to pistols—we’ll take them and destroy them by melting them down.”

For questions about the “Operation Safe Home” event, Montgomery County residents can call the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at 610-278-3368.