San Bernardino County Gun Buyback nets 1,424 firearms

Danny Hernandez purchased his prized AR-15 rifle shortly after returning from the Vietnam War.
But when the Army veteran discovered that the lack of a bullet button — a device that slows down the reload speed — made his gun illegal, he decided to get rid of it.

That's what brought him to San Bernardino County's first Gun Buyback event on Saturday in Rialto, one of several cities in the county that participated.

"The war is over for me now," the 68-year-old San Bernardino man said. "That was my last memory."

He and other people who brought guns to six locations around the county didn't go home empty-handed. Hernandez received $200 in Stater Bros. gift cards.

By the end of the day, authorities had collected 1,424 firearms, including 23 assault weapons, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

The reasons people came were as varied as the guns they brought.

Some were tiny .22-caliber pistols, while others were large assault rifles. Some people decided they didn't want that gun they had stashed in their closet anymore. Others said ammunition for assault rifles had grown too expensive.

One thing that many of the locations had in common was that the gift cards disappeared quickly.

The event was scheduled to end at 5 p.m., but Rialto, Fontana and Colton police had to close down the Rialto location by 2:15 p.m. because they had already handed out $17,500 in gift cards.

Upland police, working with Ontario, Montclair and Chino officers, also ran out of cards by about 11 a.m. and had to request approval for more.

By around 2:30 p.m., officers had collected about 300 guns and given out $27,000 in cards.

"We've had a steady stream all day long," said Upland police Lt. Tony Yoakum.

Redlands police had a line of cars before their buyback location opened at 10 a.m. By noon, they had already collected 200 guns.

"What we're seeing here today are just average folks who have had guns that maybe weren't theirs," said Redlands spokesman Carl Baker. "It may have belonged to a spouse or a parent and they ended up inheriting it, and they are uncomfortable having them in their house and wanted to get rid of it."

San Bernardino police, working with San Bernardino City Unified School District police, had already collected more than 100 weapons in the Stater Bros. parking lot on Basel Line by about noon.

Two of those were assault rifles and about 30 percent were handguns, said San Bernardino police Sgt. Dan Gomez.

The Sheriff's Department joined with other law-enforcement agencies to hold the event simultaneously in multiple cities to decrease gun violence.

Many residents thought it was a good idea.

"Hopefully, there's less crime with less guns on the streets," said Alex Campos of San Bernardino, who turned in a .22-caliber rifle in Rialto.

Not everyone was thrilled with the idea of letting people drop off weapons anonymously.

Phillip Naman of Redlands, a radio host, started a counter-drive at the Redlands drop-off location, calling his effort "Cash for Criminals."

He offered residents cash instead of gift cards, and collected about 15 guns. Naman said he expected to see criminal opportunists at the event, but instead saw elderly couples.

His effort didn't go unnoticed by police. Law enforcement confronted Naman and his supporters for holding up traffic in the area, but Naman stayed put for several hours.

Otherwise, the gun buyback went smoothly around the county.

Maria and Benny Jackson, a San Bernardino couple in their late 70s, applauded police for the event and said it should be held more often. They dropped off two rifles and a pistol.

Benny Jackson had collected the firearms during his time working for San Bernardino's refuse department. The guns had been thrown away and he grabbed them for protection, he said.

He and his wife didn't feel comfortable having them at their residence anymore.

"You have a clearer conscience if nothing like that is in the house," Maria Jackson said.



Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_23370282/san-bernardino-county-gun-buyback-nets-1-424#ixzz2V1vLPvhQ


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Sell out mufuckas..........

LOL..


68 year old man turns in an old rifle that he didn't want anymore.

WOW...The streets are so much safer now.

How many little old ladies turned in their dead husbands rusty old rifle?