"Any gun we can get off the street is one that could fall into the wrong hands," Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk said. "The fact that we can give grocery vouchers and stimulate some commerce in the city of Camden also is a benefit."
Redd said officials hoped to have a buyback program annually or twice a year.
Authorities said the guns collected Wednesday would be melted down after they are checked to see whether they were used in crimes.
Philadelphia has held several gun buybacks this year.
On Dec. 17, Philadelphia police collected 197 handguns - the most this year - and 82 rifles and shotguns in Southwest Philadelphia.
The same day, in the 14th District, which includes Mount Airy and Germantown, people turned in 180 handguns and 73 rifles and shotguns, a police spokeswoman said.
Critics contend that gun-buyback programs are public relations gimmicks that do little to reduce crime.
"They are a complete waste of money and they are not at all effective in reducing crime," said Alex Tabarrok, an economics professor at George Mason University who directs research for the Independent Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Oakland, Calif. "It's grandstanding."
He said money would be better spent putting more officers on the streets or paying for more overtime.
Further, he said getting guns off the streets takes a larger collective national effort.
"Reducing the supply of guns in Camden is like trying to drain the Delaware by using buckets," he said. "The guns are just going to flow back in, just like the water," he said.
Critics also say criminals aren't the ones usually turning in the weapons, which often turn out to be old and rusty. Further, those guns are usually locked away and not easily found by burglars.
Renee Bryant, 41, of Camden, handed over her late father's hunting rifle, which she kept in her attic when he moved in with her before his death this month of lymphoma.
"I'm scared of guns and it shouldn't be in my house," said Bryant, who dropped the rifle off at Antioch Baptist Church.
James Jones, pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church, a drop-off location near North Camden, acknowledged that criminals weren't likely to turn over their weapons, but added that residents were better off not having guns in their homes.
"He is the guy that in a fit of rage might get that gun that's been lying around the house and shoot someone," he said.
