The Annapolis Police Department is hosting a gun return event on Saturday

The Annapolis Police Department is hosting a gun return event Saturday, where residents can surrender their weapons to police without any questions asked.

The event will take place from 10am to 2pm in the parking lot of police headquarters at 199 Taylor Ave.

Police officials are asking residents who want to participate to unload their firearms before arriving Saturday.

Ministry spokesman Miguel Dennis also said it is preferable for only the officers to handle the weapons during the surrender process. As an officer pulls into the parking lot, he encounters a vehicle and asks where the firearm is before removing it himself.

Dennis said “no questions will be asked” about the returned weapons, including illegal “ghost guns” — DIY firearms that have been banned in Maryland since 2022.

Unlike gun buyback programs, residents who surrender a firearm are not paid.

The one-day event is the first of its kind for the Annapolis Police Department, said department spokesman Miguel Dennis.

“We’re trying to get a handle on the gun problem in Annapolis,” Dennis said, “and this is one way to do that.

As of Wednesday, Annapolis police responded to 15 shootings this year, including one homicide. This time last year, they had responded to eighteen shootings, resulting in seven non-fatal gunshot victims and two homicides.

Late last year, Annapolis reported nine homicides, a dramatic increase from the only homicide of 2022.