Police Net 2,000 Guns in Los Angeles Buy-Back

Los Angeles police acquired more than 2,000 handguns and rifles in a buy-back program that exchanged firearms for groceries.

Residents who turned in their weapons received a gift card in exchange for firearms. Officials and residents partook in the buy-back program while keeping in mind the shooting massacre at a Connecticut school earlier this month.

“You don’t know if someone is gonna get upset, and if they know you have it, they go for it. Anything could happen. I just thought it’d be a good thing to turn it in,” Denise Jones, who turned in a gun on Wednesday, told NBC 4.

The L.A. gun buy-back usually takes place in May, but officials moved it to December in response to the Connecticut shooting that left 20 children dead.

The anonymous buy-back program allows residents to turn in their guns with no questions asked, reported The Associated Press. Rifles, handguns, and shotguns are exchanged for a $100 gift card to Ralph’s grocery store, while assault weapons net a $200 gift card.

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