LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The city collected nearly 800 guns at last weekend’s buyback event, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced.
The firearms were surrendered on May 7 at two locations — a medical group building in the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
Gun owners were promised anonymity by the Los Angeles Police Department and given Ralphs grocery gift cards valued at up to $200 for the guns.
The 791 firearms collected include 364 handguns, 237 rifles, 144 shotguns, 42 assault weapons and four “atypical” guns, one of which was made to look like a pen.
The surrendered handguns included one still registered to entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who died in 1990, according to LAPD Officer Liliana Preciado.
The number of guns brought in this year exceeded the 746 weapons given up at last year’s buyback event.
“Fewer guns in our neighborhoods means fewer chances for them to kill, injure or terrorize the people we love,” Garcetti said. “If we prevent a single shooting, then the gun buyback program has been a success.”
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the buyback program is a key part of “a multi-faceted approach to preventing gun violence” and has “ensured that over 15,000 firearms will never be used in a crime.”
Nearly half of the 15,233 guns given up at 11 buyback events held since 2009 have been handguns, which are the most commonly used weapon in homicides involving firearms, LAPD officials said.