Gun buyback so popular, police run out of gift cards
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - DECEMBER 17: San Francisco gun buyback event held in San Francisco on December 17, 2016. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO (AP) - San Diego police received 164 guns during a no-questions-asked gun buyback event that proved so popular that officers ran out of the gift cards they gave in exchange for weapons.
Capt. Alberto Leos says $25,000 worth of Walmart gift cards were given out during the buyback Saturday in the department's Southern Division.
He tells the Union-Tribune that officers had to turn away people hoping to exchange weapons for gift cards.
The newspaper says police handed out $150 in gift cards for every handgun or rifle turned in. Assault weapons netted $250 worth of the cards.
Leos said this weekend's haul was bigger than a similar event hosted a few months back, which he said drew just 47 unwanted weapons.
------
Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com