NEWARK -- A statewide gun buyback in three major New Jersey cities brought in 4,775 firearms over two days, authorities said.

The program, which offered between $100 and $200 per firearm, no questions asked, was the largest of its kind in state history, according to state Attorney General Christopher Porrino.

The buybacks were held last weekend at Antioch Baptist Church in Camden, the Friendship Baptist Church in Trenton and the Greater Abyssinian Baptist Church in Newark.

The haul included 1,973 handguns, 1,142 shotguns, 1,025 rifles and a range of other firearms including 129 police described as "assault weapons."

"Those are weapons of war," acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick said, referring to the semi-automatic and automatic weapons collected during the event. "Those are weapons that were designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Those weapons are no longer on the streets of New Jersey."

Porrino and Fitzpatrick announced the results of the program during an afternoon press conference at the Newark Police Communication Center, where thousands of individually tagged guns sat stacked high on tables and clustered in large garbage cans.

The weapons will be melted down this week. Porrino said because state officials offer amnesty to encourage people to turn in guns, they won't be tested at a ballistics lab the way most crime guns are examined.

Buybacks have become increasingly popular in recent years, though experts doubt their effectiveness at curbing gun violence. Researchers say they mostly draw "attic guns" -- firearms turned in by people who simply had them stored in their homes and wanted to get rid of them.

Porrino said that was fine by him.

"A gun that has been melted down can never be used to kill somebody, it can never be used to rob or threaten someone, and it can never end up, tragically, as the instrument of a curious child's accidental death," Porrino said.

Authorities said the buyback is also part of a broader effort to stem gun violence in the Garden State.

In May, Porrino and Fitzpatrick announced they would share cases through a program known as Triggerlock, which allows local and state authorities to hand prosecution for gun crimes to the U.S. Attorney's office. Penalties are stiffer for gun crimes under federal law.

To date, 19 state cases have been referred to federal law enforcement through the program, authorities said.

At the state level, Porrino earlier this year directed prosectors across the state to automatically request detention for people accused of serious gun crimes under New Jersey's new bail system, which took effect in January.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.