Make wishtv.com your home page

Indy religious leaders call for cease-fire weekend, gun buyback

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — They stood around a crowded podium. 

A group of Indianapolis pastors, police officers and community activists shared a plan for a cease-fire. 

Indy’s cease-fire weekend was announced Monday as a three-day event that will include a job fair, a gun buyback program, in an attempt to reduce violence in the city. 

Those who bring in a firearm to the MLK Center on Nov. 3 can receive anywhere from $80-$160. 

Anyone who brings a gun must show ID to collect a gift card with cash on it. Despite the ID requirement, the group made it clear there would be no attempts to make arrests. The goal is to get guns off the streets. 

“This is not a snitch program; this is a program that will reduce gun violence in our community,” said Wayne Moore of Olivet Missionary Baptist Church. 

Moore said Monday that violence reduction is not the sole responsibility of Mayor Joe Hogsett: “This is not the mayor’s problem; this is a community problem.”

The gun buyback will take place at the Martin Luther King Community Center, 40 W. 40th Street.