CAMBRIDGE — Sitting at a table beneath an awning in a Columbia Street parking lot Saturday morning, a police officer used a magnifying glass to examine a Marlin 30-caliber rifle, one of two firearms dropped off anonymously as part of a gun buyback in five Middlesex County communities.
“Hate to see them go in some ways, but then again, I’m not using them,’’ the gun’s owner said.
“Better safe than sorry,’’ said a member of the Cambridge police crime scene services unit, who informed the owner that he would receive gift certificates totaling $200.
In conjunction with local police departments, the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office held anonymous buybacks Saturday in Cambridge, Arlington, and Belmont that yielded 62 guns.
“These are guns that are not wanted in their homes,’’ said Peter J. Koutoujian, sheriff for Middlesex County. “People just don’t know where to take them.’’
Eight previous gun buybacks involving the sheriff’s office since April 2013 netted a total of 299 guns, according to officials.
Two more buybacks are scheduled this month: one in Watertown on June 18 at the First Parish Church, and another in Somerville on June 25 at the Department of Public Works. Both are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Throughout the year, people looking to turn in a firearm can contact their local police departments.
For the Cambridge buyback, 20 faith-based organizations joined with 16 community organizations and businesses and six government agencies to arrange the event and fund gift cards. People received gift cards worth $5 per toy gun; $50 per pellet or BB gun; $100 per handgun, rifle, or shotgun; and $200 per assault weapon.
The primary effects of the firearms being turned in are reflected in the numbers of accidental shootings, domestic violence incidents, and suicides more than street crimes, according to Koutoujian.
People often come into possession of guns through inheritance, but in other ways as well. One woman told buyback officials that she found a gun in her ex-husband’s belongings. A man found a gun in his building that former tenants had left behind.
Guns are frequently dropped off because the people who possess them are unfamiliar with firearms safety. In one recent buyback, a person who brought in a gun didn’t realize that it was loaded, he said.
Authorities examine the guns and create a record of any identifying information, checking that the items were not linked to crimes, before the guns are destroyed at the State Police barracks in Maynard.
That is a different ending than what happens in someother buybackprograms, when guns are ultimately resold in other countries such as Mexico, according to Koutoujian.
“If we don’t want them sold in our communities, why would we want to see those very same items sold in another community, even if it’s overseas or another country?’’ he said.
Later Saturday at another gun buyback on Grove Street in Arlington, a man dropped off a deer rifle, a shotgun, and ammunition.
The firearms had been passed down from his grandfather to his father, then to him, he said. Despite his familiarity with firearms from hunting and serving in the military, he wanted to turn them in to protect his 9-month-old son.
“To do it right, it seems that you need a safe [and not just trigger locks],’’ he said. “Do I really want to spend money on a thousand-pound safe sitting around the house, just for these things that I never even use?’’ he said.
Nicole Fleming can be reached at nicole.fleming@globe.com.
