190 Guns Collected At Long Beach Gun Buy Back Event

LONG BEACH, CA — The Long Beach Police Department hosted a gun buyback event at Scherer Park on Saturday where authorities collected 190 total firearms from community members.

All firearms were turned in voluntarily and people who brought them to the event were given $50 gift cards for non-functioning guns; $100 for handguns, rifles and shotguns; and $200 for assault rifles.

"We remain committed to supporting programs which can reduce the availability and accessibility of firearms in our community," said LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish.

At the buyback, officials collected:

• 77 handguns, one of which was a ghost gun
• 14 zip guns
• 56 rifles, 11 of which were assault rifles
• 33 shotguns
• 10 replica/BB guns

LBPD has held many gun buyback events to help combat the increase of violent crime in Long Beach. Authorities said their goal with these events is to eliminate the chance of firearms being stolen, ending up in the hands of prohibited possessors, and being used unlawfully.

Long Beach's event was sponsored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn's office.

“We know that guns are the problem," said Supervisor Janice Hahn. "This is part of a series of gun buybacks I am organizing with law enforcement agencies across my district to give residents an opportunity to get guns out of their homes and help make their community safer."