SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8/CNS) - Gun owners were given the chance to trade in their unwanted firearms for cash or a skateboard at a gun buyback event hosted by local law enforcement and faith leaders on Saturday.
The San Diego Police Department, County Sheriff's Department and the United African American Ministerial Action Council are offering $100 gift cards for rifles, shotguns and handguns and $200 cards for assault weapons. Participants were also allowed to opt for a custom skateboard, valued at more than $300.
There was a "no questions asked policy" in regard to the guns, according to the SDPD.
"Often they want to get rid of those guns and they don't know how to do it," Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said.
The stories behind the guns range from old antiques to gifts. One person turned in a classic Japanese rifle from World War II, another dropped off a loaded Mac-10.
Tom Gilliland said he turned in his gun to get it out of his house where his grandkids often play. It also wasn't getting much use.
"It's been sitting in the closet for 50 years and it hasn't been fired since 50 years ago, basically," Gilliland said.
The program hit home for one woman who said her son was killed by gunfire last year on 17th Street and Island Avenue.
"We want to do something different. We don't want any child to be harmed, we don't want officers to be harmed," Rev. Gerald Brown said.
Carver Skateboards, the company donating the boards, has been involved since 2012 and first joined after the Sandy Hook shooting.
"We realized that we didn't have to make a huge change to policy or culture, but could simply work in our own small corner and affect whomever we could reach," founder Neil Carver told GrindTV.