GOSHEN, NY (AP) --
Turn in a gun, get some groceries.
That's the idea behind a gun buyback program kicking off Friday in Orange County.
The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports law enforcement officers and elected officials announced Thursday that anyone turning in a gun will receive a grocery store gift card worth up to $150. Authorities are promising amnesty for illegal possession of a firearm.
The county's "Save a Life" gun buyback program runs through March 18, with drop-off sites at police stations in the cities of Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis as well as the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Goshen.
The buyback program was already planned before last month's fatal shootings of 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Conn., and two volunteer firefighters in the Rochester suburb of Webster.
(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
