By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, July 23, 2025

For more than a decade, Pastor Charles Muller of Victory Church in Albany has been trying to get teenagers across the city to renounce gun violence and surrender illegal guns. And this year, he’s offering cash cards and Nike sneakers in exchange for their cooperation.

In an interview with The Christian Post Tuesday, Muller said his push to get guns out of the hands of teenagers began about 13 years ago after an 11-year-old girl was shot dead by a 14-year-old.

“And it was a community gun” that was used in that shooting, Muller told CP, referring to guns that are shared or circulated among a group of people and often used in crimes. 

While he is not a big fan of traditional gun buyback programs, Muller, who has helped feed at-risk children in the city for more than 30 years, said he felt like something was needed to discourage gun violence among teenagers.

He decided to offer cash cards to gang members who were harassing people at a local mall if they would surrender their guns, and in the first week of that initiative, he said he removed 120 guns from the streets.

Following the death of a 17-year-old shot in the head by two 15-year-old suspects on July 4, Muller said he was inspired to add the sneaker incentive for teens to give up their guns. Victory Church is offering five pairs of Nike sneakers for every handgun a teenager turns in. 

“I’ve never done the guns for sneakers. Last year, I would just give a $150 gift card for every gun,” he told CP, noting that they collected about 200 to 300 illegal guns off the streets of Albany through their effort in 2024.

Both of the 15-year-olds are now facing felony attempted second-degree murder charges. Police say one fired a flare gun into 333 Madison Ave. at about 10 p.m. on July 4 while another fired a gun, hitting the 17-year-old in the head and injuring three other people, The Times Union reported.

Muller also established a hotline to help teenagers give up their illegal guns, which can be reached at 518-857-0726.

While he hasn't collected any guns since he launched his latest effort on Monday, Muller plans to continue engaging with the city's teenagers for the rest of the summer.

"Our church is really kind of like a mission-type church," he said, noting the community-centered projects operated by the church, which include a clothing store for foster children called Our Store.

Instead of giving foster children "hand-me-downs," Our Store, a Victory Church initiative, supplies them with new clothing and other supplies for free.

"We have a shoe department, we have a sneaker department, we have a clothing department, we have underwear, socks … everything they need, and it's all brand new," Muller said at the launch of the store in 2021.

"It's not hand-me-downs. We are lifting them up, saying, 'You're worthy of a brand new coat. It just really makes all the difference when a child can really say, 'This is mine.'"