Linkarooni
Give up guns, get a gift card
Written by Kristina Davis
12:06 p.m., Dec. 14, 2011
SAN DIEGO — If you have an unwanted firearm, you can turn it in Monday and get a gift card in return.
The gun exchange program, hosted for a fourth year by the United African American Ministerial Action Council in San Diego, aims to curb gun violence and prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands.
“We want to try to get guns from out of houses. People are burglarizing houses, and there have been a lot of home invasions lately. They find the gun, the gun hits the street, then someone gets killed,” said Robert Robinson, a leader at the nonprofit interfaith agency.
“There are widows and older people who don’t know what to do with them. This is an opportunity to get rid of them.”
Gun owners can turn in their operable weapons from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the agency’s headquarters at 4981 Market St. in San Diego, no questions asked. Handguns are worth a $100 gift card, and assault rifles are worth a $200 card. All need to be unloaded.
To pay for the gift cards, the nonprofit relies on donations from private citizens, as well as the San Diego Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office, San Diego Police Officers Association and Seau Foundation.
San Diego police officers will collect the guns from vehicles. All weapons collected will be destroyed.
Since 2008, when the program began, 540 guns have been turned in.
At least one of the commenters has a clue:
Jeremy Trudeau
Dumb, increasing home invasion robberies and you want people to disarm themselves?