The city of Los Angeles is holding its annual gun buyback event at two locations today in response to the mass shooting in Newtown , Conn., this month. In a campaign that probably wouldn’t inspire a Jesse James’ gun rant , LAPD officials don’t try to take away your guns – they basically buy them off you. The guns can be turned in anonymously, with no questions asked, in exchange for up to $100 in Ralph’s gift cards for handguns, shotguns and rifles. Assault weapons can fetch up to $200 in rewards cards at the grocery store. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa created the gun buyback program in 2009. So far, it is credited with getting close to 8,000 firearms off the streets. Just last May, LAPD officials collected 1,673 firearms, including 53 assault weapons, 791 handguns, 302 shotguns and one anti-tank rocket launcher. Villaraigosa announced last week that the gun buyback, usually held in the spring, would be moved up to give Angelenos a chance to take “concrete action.” “Too often we wake up with another headline that reminds us we are too late,” Villaraigosa said at a news conference last week in response to the CT massacre. “In Los Angeles, we believe we should stand together.”
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LAPD Gun Buyback Moved Up in Response to CT Shooting
