Rev. Robert Lawrence of the First Congregational Church teamed up with officers of the Fall River Police Department on May 19, 2007, to offer another Gun Buy-Back program in an effort to reduce the number of firearms in the Greater Fall River community. This is the seventh time that the pastor has organized an opportunity for citizens to dispose of weapons, no questions asked, in exchange for a $50 in gift certificates good at Shaw's Supermarkets. By 11:00 a.m., 78 weapons had been turned in, checked and catalogued. The weapons will be examined later to see if the serial number are related to any criminal activity. They will then be melted down at a foundry in Johnston, RI. Click here to read the Herald News article about the event. For more information, contact Rev. Lawrence at fccfallriver@verizon.net.

(Top and middle rows) Fall River police officers Robert Desheanes, Robert Williams and John Ruggeiro check in, examine and register weapons as they are turned in at the Church. (Bottom row) Rev. Lawrence looks over the weapons turned in during the first two hours of the four-hour event before showing a plaque given to him by former Fall River Police Chief Francis MacDonald with a gun that had been melted down.