News Flash

As part of comprehensive efforts to reduce gun violence and increase community safety, Winston-Salem Councilwoman Barbara Hanes Burke, along with the Winston-Salem Police Department, announce a city-wide gun buyback event that will be held Saturday, November 20 at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Leaf Lot located at 2885 Shorefair Drive. The drive-thru event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until all allocated funds are gone. 

The gun buyback program has been allotted $50,000 provided to the city as part of the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief Fund. The bill recognizes that one by-product of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increase in violence. The Relief Fund authorizes recipients to spend some of the money on efforts to reduce violence. 

Citizens can anonymously turn in firearms with no questions asked. The following cash amounts will be given for guns: 

• $200 – Assault rifles (example: semi-automatic rifles) 
• $150 – Handguns (example: pistols, revolvers) 
• $100 – Long Guns (example: shotguns, rifles) 

Pellet guns, BB guns, ammunition, starter pistols, black powder guns and replica toy guns will be accepted, but no cash will be given. 

“Every gun that we remove from our community is one less gun that can be used to commit a crime," said Councilwoman Barbara Hanes Burke. “This effort alone will not solve the gun violence sweeping through our communities. However, it is one layer in what will require a multi-layered response to this pandemic. We must take any step, however small, toward eradicating this problem.” 

“We want to ensure we are doing all we can to continue to keep the citizens of Winston-Salem safe and combat a rise in gun violence,” said Assistant Chief of Police William Penn, Jr.  

For more information about how to turn in a weapon and other questions about the event, please visit cityofws.org/gunbuyback.