HOUSTON – Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Commissioner Rodney Ellis, along with the City of Houston held their third Gun Buyback event on Saturday.
On Saturday, city and county officials held their third Gun Buyback event in Northeast Houston.
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It was held at Alexander Deussen Park, located at 12303 Sonnier Street in northeast Houston.
Officials said no ghost guns, or customized home-assembled guns, were accepted at the event.
Organizers reminded owners to unload the gun prior to arriving and transport it inside the vehicle trunk.
Guns for gift cards
“It’s $50 dollars will give for every non-functioning firearm, $100 for shotguns or rifles, $150 for handguns and $200 for semi-automatic,” Commissioner Ellis said.
Commissioner Rodney Ellis, along with the city of Houston held their third gun buyback and hundreds showed up.
“I think it’s good if you can get some of the guns off of the street. It’s important…hopefully trying to reduce crime. Starting with theft then working its way up to murders with stolen guns,” Heish Northern said.
The line wrapped all around Deussen Park. Some people waited for several hours. Franny Croissant missed the second Gun Buyback
“I waited four hours and didn’t quite get through. This is my second attempt,” she said.
Commissioner Ellis said gun buybacks are necessary when it comes to reducing gun violence. Since 2009, more people have died in mass shootings in Texas than any other state.
“We may not control gun laws at local level, but we are not powerless to take guns off the streets. Gunbuy backs to safely remove unwanted guns from their homes and make the community safer,” he said.
Last year, there was two-gun buybacks that collected about 2,000 weapons and over $250,000 was distributed.
Mayor Turner says the focus is on saving lives and reducing violence on our streets.
“Every weapon we removed from the street we are preventing a child from getting a hold of that gun, preventing a domestic violence abuser from getting that gun and preventing people with mental health issues or intent to commit a violent crime from getting their hands on that gun,” Mayor Turner said.
Participants who experienced issues with their gift cards should now be able to use them as normal.
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