Exchange your unwanted guns for a $50 gift certificate, April 9, at Ceasefire Foundation of Oregon's Gun Turn-In. The Gun Turn-In will run from 10am to 2pm at Memorial Coliseum's Benton Parking lot, off Northeast Broadway. The Skanner News Video: Gun Turn-In

Mary Tompkins, crime prevention coordinator for the City of Portland, said the event is designed to get guns out of range of children, youth and people who might be depressed or suicidal. So far the organization has received more than 8000 unwanted guns, 115 of them at last December's gun turn-in. Everyone that turns in a working gun will be given a $50 gift certificate to a local store," Tompkins said.

"We do offer a $5 gift certificate to people who bring in non-workable guns, ammunition, bb guns, and toy guns – basically guns that look like real guns but aren't very dangerous. We don't want those guns to be in the hands of young children or people who are playing around because the police do take these guns seriously, and it is very hard to tell the difference."

Tompkins, a crime prevention coordinator for the City of Portland, wore a tee-shirt from fixgunchecks.org, the national nonprofit that aims to bring attendance to the huge number of gun deaths in the United States. She notes that 34 people are murdered in gun violence every day.

Responsible gun owners keep weapons unloaded and locked away, Tompkins reminds us, so children, teens and family members who are suicidal or have mental health problems can't pick them up and accidentally hurt somebody, she said. But too many loaded guns are sitting in drawers, on shelves or under beds, where they can easily fall into the wrong hands.