Gun Buyback Event Happening In Belmont

BELMONT, CA — With cash incentives ranging from $50 to $200, a guarantee of anonymity, free gun locks, and an opportunity to learn more about safe firearm storage and protocols, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office aims to draw a crowd at their upcoming gun buyback event in Belmont.

“Gun buyback events provide a safe and anonymous avenue for community members to remove unwanted firearms from their homes, leading to a safer San Mateo County,” said Sheriff Christina Corpus in a news release. “Turning in unwanted firearms helps prevent tragic accidents involving unsecure[d] firearms and is another strategy to help prevent firearms from ending up in the wrong hands.”

For the event, scheduled for Saturday, August 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 400 Harbor Blvd., the Sheriff’s Office has partnered with the County of San Mateo, Citizens for San Mateo County Gun Buyback and local law enforcement agencies, including the Belmont Police Department, the Menlo Park Police Department and the Redwood City Police Department.

Previous Sheriff’s Office’s gun buyback events have been successful, the numbers show. One held in spring 2024 yielded 297 firearms, including a record-breaking 24 assault weapons, four ghost guns and one machine gun, with nearly 3,000 firearms collected and safely destroyed since the event’s inception in 2018, according to the news release.

Firearms that people bring to the event will be “accepted without question,” as noted in the news release, and “should be unloaded and securely stored in the trunk of the vehicle prior to arrival.”

The gun buyback program is funded by the County of San Mateo in partnership with the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. It’s supported by Citizens for a San Mateo County Gun Buyback, a local community group.

Click here for a map of the event's location.