293 Guns Collected At Long Beach Gun Buy Back Event

LONG BEACH, CA — The Long Beach Police Department hosted a gun buyback event at MacArthur Park on Saturday where authorities collected 293 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.

"This Gun Buy Back operation is a good opportunity for members of our community to turn in firearms safely,” said LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish.

At the buyback, officials collected:

• 115 handguns, two of which were ghost guns
• 100 rifles
• 42 shotguns
• 7 assault rifles
• 29 non-functioning firearms

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."