Sheriff's Deputies Holding 'Gifts For Guns' Buyback Event In East LA Saturday
EAST LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The LA County Sheriff's Department will hold a five-hour gun buyback event in East LA Saturday.
Deputies will offer gift cards worth up to $200 for guns surrendered at the East First Street and Mednik Avenue Belvedere Park parking lot from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sheriff Lee Baca said at a press conference Wednesday.
The event is part of LASD's "Gifts for Guns" program.
Baca said the department will offer $200 gift cards for assault weapons, $100 cards for handguns, rifles or shotguns and $50 cards for non-operational firearms. The gift cards are redeemable at Target stores or Ralphs markets.
Firearms are surrendered anonymously and there is a "no questions asked" policy.
The "Gifts for Guns" buyback program began in Compton in 2005.
A similar buyback event hosted by the Los Angeles Police Department and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program in December 2012 collected 2,037 firearms and was so popular officials ran out of gift cards.
Weapons surrendered are checked for lost or stolen status before they are melted down at a steel plant.
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