It was the classic source of guns for a gun swap – family-owned firearms lying around the house, gathering dust and making their owners vaguely nervous.

“My father passed away and I didn’t want them in my house, I wanted to get rid of them anyway,” said Baltimore resident Mitch Radford, Sr.,  at the “Computers 4 Guns” exchange held yesterday at Orchard Street Church.

After turning in three handguns to the Baltimore police officers staffing the event, Radford, 48, came away with something that made him feel a lot better – three Google Chromebooks.

Radford, 48, said he planned to give the computers to his nieces and nephew. “I don’t need them,” he said, “but for the kids, my sister could use them.”

That’s music to the ears of the event’s organizer, Lance Lucas, chief executive of  Digit All Systems.

Lucas, whose non-profit firm trains young people in computer networking and repair skills, has been holding the computers-for-guns swap annually since 2013.

The events, he said, are an attempt to focus attention on opportunities to give residents, especially youth, useful tech careers rather than “grimmer alternatives that involve firearms and violence.”

“We offer education to everyone, young people and others,” he said. “We need to get more students into STEM careers.”

With music playing and refreshments available, Lucas and his staff had 70 laptops and tablets on hand to give out. He said the 17 guns collected by the police officers staffing the event will be tagged and melted down.

One police officer at the event noted that some of the firearms might be end up in the department’s weapons reference lab, where they would be used to help identify guns used in crimes.