The Archdiocese of Baltimore will hold its fourth annual gun buyback event in Southwest Baltimore on Saturday, Aug. 8. The event, which has removed more than 1,000 semi-automatic rifles and other firearms from the community, aims to take unwanted guns out of circulation and make prioritizing safety easier and more accessible.

Event Details

The drive-up event will take place in the parking lot of Westside Shopping center from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The Baltimore Police Department will provide a safe and legal way to dispose of the firearms. Gun owners will get between $100 and $300 for each weapon, depending on the type, no questions asked. Firearms must be in working order.

The guns taken off the streets and out of homes include semi-automatic rifles and stolen firearms. More than $220,000 has been raised from both Catholic parishes and individual donors for the buybacks, with any excess funds going directly to support families of homicide victims.

“Removing semi-automatic rifles from homes can save lives in fragile and volatile situations,” said the Rev. Michael Murphy, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish and the historic St. Joseph’s Monastery and founding member of Health by Southwest. “It can also save the lives of those who might otherwise use a semi-automatic rifle to harm themselves and prevent firearms from being stolen and used in criminal acts.

In 2025, 610 people died in Maryland from gun-related incidents. Of those, 276 were homicides and 322 were suicides, according to data from the state health department. New research published in JAMA Health Forum by two UCLA professors in 2026 showed that keeping guns out of the hands of distressed individuals reduces the numbers of suicides.

Original reporting: Baltimore Fishbowl — read the source article.