Congresswoman Speier Emotional as Hundreds of Guns Collected

UPDATE 7:48 P.M.: 

The gun buyback event collected more than 680 firearms, including 24 assault weapons, 338 hand guns and 371 long guns, according to Congresswoman Jackie Speier.

Officials also collected a 100 round capacity magazine, 30 round
capacity magazines, a sawed-off shotgun and a street sweeper.

A total of $63,500 was handed out.

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By 9:30 a.m., the line of cars waiting to enter the lot of the San Mateo County Event Center for the gun buyback event was so long, Sheriff's deputies and staff decided to start the event a full 30 minutes early.

By 11 a.m., already around 200 handguns, rifles, and even an assault rifle or two had been collected, and thousands in cash had been given out, prompting Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Sheriff's deputies to call the event "a success."

Rep. Speier (D-San Mateo), herself the victim of the mass shooting at Jonestown in 1978, was emotional as Sheriff's deputies collected a large assault rifle from one citizen.

As she asked Sheriff's deputies to show her the gun and explain how it worked and how many rounds the gun's magazine could hold, she shed a few tears.

During a press conference at 11 a.m., just 90 minutes into the event, San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks estimated they had already collected around 200 guns, and said he was "overwhelmed at the turnout."

Rep. Speier also took the microphone at the conference.

"One thing is very clear - we are a gun-violent society," she said, quoting that, of the 23 wealthiest countries in the world, the U.S. is responsible for 80 percent of all gun deaths.

"What [this event] shows is that, the people of our County recognize that the time has come to get guns out of their homes and turn them in to a safer place," she continued. 

Rep. Speier addressed some of the criticism over gun buyback events by saying that, even though some of the guns collected came from responsible gun owners' homes, it's still possible they can get into the hands of criminals if a burglar should rob the home and get their hands on them.

"For those that say gun buybacks don't do enough, let me say this - for every gun collected here today, that's one less gun that could end up in the wrong hands and kill a child, kill an adult, or maim someone," she said.

In total, San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, who helped sponsor the event with Rep. Speier, said they had made $58,000 available for payouts that day, but that even if they ran out of funds, vouchers would be given out so that citizens could be paid for their guns later.

Tissier said, the $58,000 came from a variety of sources, but mostly, from community donations.

Patch will update this story as total numbers of guns collected and funds paid out is released by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.