Educating the community about violence through a gun turn-in program

The Ceasefire Oregon gun turn in program was initiated to educate the commu nity regarding violence through a gun turn-in program with voluntary surren der of firearms, educational efforts about violence, and institution of pub lic safety policies. The community board of directors was composed of multi ple community leadership organizations. A multi-intervention education, out reach and media program consisting of distribution of brochures, presentati ons, school education programs, and workshops was implemented throughout th e year in addition to the gun turn-in program held in May for two days. A s urvey was administered to participants in the program at the turn-in sites. The cumulative total for guns turned in years 1994 to 1999 was 4,345. Half of the respondents reported possession of a gun at home. The most common r easons for participating in the gun turn in were obtaining gift certficates and not wanting the gun any more.. A successful community grassroots progr am, Ceasefire Oregon has shown sustainability over six years with increased participation secondary to education, advertising and incentives. Communit y and statewide efforts can assist with building the infrastructure for pro grams, however more tools for quantitative performance program evaluation w ould facilitate measuring the impact on the community.