Students Declare: Our Money. Your Guns. No Questions Asked!

Medical students and faculty from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine pitched in with area churches and residents to remove 52 guns from the streets of Maywood as part of the 3rd Annual Maywood Community Gun Buyback Program.

Local residents received a $50 Visa gift card for every gun turned in, with no questions asked during the 6-day event in April. Since its inception three years ago, the program is responsible for removing 150 guns from the streets. Besides making guns unavailable for criminal use, the other goals of the program are to increase community involvement in violence prevention and build awareness and education about violence-prevention activities.

“We know that this program isn't the definitive answer to gun violence but it gives people a chance to get rid of a weapon that could otherwise be used in a crime,” said Zoe Smith, a third-year medical student who was a key promoter and organizer of the program.

Police were on hand to make sure the buyback went smoothly at the five sites (Rock of Ages Baptist Church, Proviso Baptist Church, Holy Corinthian Baptist Church, St. Eulalia Catholic Church and Maywood Ceasefire) where the program took place. Loyola Medical Student Union, Village of Maywood, Maywood Health Initiative, Maywood Chamber of Commerce, Maywood Police Department and the Proviso Township Ministerial Alliance also participated in the program.

Last year, volunteers collected 17 guns on a recent Saturday. The next day, a community resident turned in a gun at the Maywood Police Department. In 2007, the gun buyback program resulted in the collection of 79 guns during a five-day span.