Only six guns surrendered on first day of Philly gun turn-in program — yet organizers are reportedly pleased

Only six guns were surrendered on the first day of a Philadelphia "no questions asked" gun turn-in program over the weekend — yet KYW-TV said organizers are pleased with the results.

Image source: KYW-TV video screenshot

What are the details?

Victoria Greene's son Emir Greene was murdered in 1997 when he was just 20 years old, the station said, so she founded the Emir Healing Center — and a few guns were turned in there Saturday.

"People might say, 'Oh, that's not many.' But no, it is. It is. Because we're talking about life and death," Greene told KYW. "This is a new effort, but I think it's really going to have some momentum."

Damone Jones, senior pastor of Bible Way Baptist Church, told the station that gun violence has reached "epidemic" proportions.

“We're at an epidemic stage at this point," Jones noted to KYW. "If this is not an urgent situation now, based on how many children, now it seems like it's every week there's another child being shot."

Image source: KYW-TV video screenshot

Activists told KYW parents must check the bedrooms and bags of young people in their care.

“This is an effort really to appeal to parents, to take on personal responsibility, do these room checks and see if there are guns in their house," community activist Bilal Qayyum told the station. "And if there is a gun that shouldn't be in the house, turn it in. We know they're in the households, so we've just got to find them and bring them in and get them off the streets."

Image source: KYW-TV video screenshot

The station said 110 people under the age of 18 have been shot in the city this year — and three children were shot between Wednesday and Friday last week.