— ADVERTISEMENT - GO AD-FREE
— ADVERTISEMENT - GO AD-FREE

190 guns turned in during buy back event at Scherer Park, police say

The event, which was hosted Saturday, allowed people to turn in their unwanted firearms in exchange for a gift cards.

190 guns turned in during buy back event at Scherer Park, police say
Guns collected during the Saturday, June 29 buy back event. Photo courtesy of the LBPD.

A total of 190 guns, including dozens of rifles and shotguns, were turned over to the Long Beach Police Department Saturday during a buy back event at Scherer Park, authorities announced today.

The event, which was hosted by the Long Beach Police Department and sponsored Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hanh’s office, allowed people to exchange their weapons for gift cards on a voluntary and anonymous basis. People were given gift cards ranging from $50 to $200, depending on the weapon’s functionality and type.

The event Saturday brought in a total of 77 handguns—one of which was a ghost gun (it lacked a serial number, making it untraceable)—56 rifles, 33 shotguns, 14 zip guns, and 10 replica firearms, police said.

Long Beach Police Department personnel during the gun buy back event at Scherer Park Saturday, June 29. Photo courtesy of the LBPD.

Long Beach police say reducing the availability and accessibility of firearms serve as a way to make the community and city safer.

According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, having access to a firearm inside a household doubles the risk of homicide and triples the odds of someone committing suicide.

💰
Fernando Haro has been on strike from the Long Beach Post since March 22, yet he continues to cover Long Beach unpaid. Thank him for his work.
🗞️
The Watchdog is Long Beach's largest newsroom — for now. We need your help to keep it that way. Our goal is to reach 1,000 paying subscribers by the end of September. To help us get there, we’re offering a 10% discount on our annual subscription. Sign up here.

To finish signing in, click the confirmation link in your inbox.

×

Support the Long Beach Watchdog and get cool features like dark mode, the ability to comment and an ad-free reading experience.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Sign in.