A church in Michigan has partnered with a Christian ministry to help residents safely dispose of unwanted firearms in an effort to reduce the risk of gun violence.

St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Jackson hosted the event with Disarmory Ministry, offering residents gift cards worth between $50 and $200 (£37 and £149) in exchange for guns.

Disarmory Ministries

Weapons experts then dismantled the firearms, providing a way for people to remove unwanted or non-working guns from their homes.

Jessica Reinstra, congregation liaison for Disarmory Ministries, said the initiative was one part of a wider response to violence.

“We’re just one piece of the puzzle,” she said. “We’re not pretending that this is the answer to all gun violence. We’re just doing our little part and we feel that there’s many pieces to the puzzle so we encourage everybody to do their part.”

Disarmory Ministries

Organisers said removing unwanted firearms from circulation could help reduce the risk of harm, while acknowledging that wider action is needed to tackle gun violence.