Since 2005, Gifts for Guns has allowed residents of especially violent areas to trade in guns for gift cards, but this year, the most popular cards were for grocery stores, not retail stores, like in prior events.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allows residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores. Assault rifles double the amount
The event took place in a grocery store parking lot in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles, an area with a long and notorious history of violence and gang-related incidents. Although in the past, most guns were turned in for gift cards to Target and Best Buy, this year the cards of choice were to Ralphs. Sheriff's Sgt. Byron Woods explained, "People just don't have the money to buy the food these days.” "One guy said he had just got laid off from his job," Woods said. "He turned in five guns and said it would really help him to put food on the family's table."
About 1,000 weapons were expected to be collected and 590 guns and two hand grenades were handed in during the last weekend in November, more than the total collected in any year and eclipsing last year's 387 guns. The event also turns up antique weapons and one man brought in a Soviet-era semiautomatic carbine.
The drive was started after an increase in killings in 2005, which has since tapered off. After first checking to see if any weapons were used to commit crimes, the firearms were destroyed.
Similar events are held in New York and San Francisco.
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