Semiautomatic and automatic assault rifles among firearms collected at buyback event in Lynwood
Participants were able to give up their firearms with no questions asked in exchange for gift cards. A total of 365 weapons were collected.
Handguns, semiautomatic and automatic assault rifles were among the 365 guns collected at a buyback event in Lynwood this weekend, officials said.
The firearms, which will be destroyed, were collected during the event Saturday sponsored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Community Advisory Council.
Hahn said in a statement that the buyback program was a success and that it means hundreds fewer guns could be potentially part of accidents or violent crimes.
“I am grateful to everyone who came out today and turned in a weapon,” Hahn said. “It was the right thing to do and your families and your community are safer because of it.”
Gun buyback programs are typically used as a means to collect firearms from communities with no questions asked. The program over the weekend allowed people to turn in firearms regardless of whether they were working.
The firearms collected included 135 functioning rifles and 143 functioning pistols/revolvers. There were also 64 functioning shotguns and seven functioning assault weapons collected. There were 16 nonfunctioning weapons brought in. Members of the public also turned in other firearm parts.
In exchange, participants who provided their firearms at the parking lot of the Metro Park and Ride in Lynwood on Saturday received gift cards of up to $300 for Food4Less, Amazon, Superior Market, and North Gate Gonzalez Market.
Gift card amounts increased depending on the weapons provided, according to Hahn’s office. This included $50 for a non-working firearm or part and $150 for a working pistol, rifle or shotgun. But the amounts jumped up to $200 for a working ghost gun, unregistered and untraceable firearms that can be made with a 3D printer or assembled at home using a kit. Gun owners who brought in a working assault rifle received $300 on a gift card.
The event comes months after another gun buyback program across several Los Angeles area locations in March where 17 assault weapons and 250 other firearms were collected. The total collected also included 15 ghost guns.
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