On the eve of the second anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting, local organizations turned grief into activism with gun buyback programs in San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco.
In the San Jose gun buyback, people received between $100 to $200 gift cards for weapons turned in.
Police checked each weapon to see if it had been lost or stolen, in which case it was returned to the owner. All other firearms were destroyed.
"The impact is that's there one less gun in the community and that's one less gun that can do harm both inside the home in terms of an accidental shooting, a suicidal shooting and even a potential burglary item," San Jose resident Johnny Gogo said. "Because when people break into homes, those thieves are looking for high value items, and there's nothing higher value than a firearm."
Police said they took 218 firearms off the streets of San Jose--105 handguns, 46 shotguns, 59 rifles, and 8 assault weapons.
In Oakland, police said about 90 guns were turned in during Saturday's buyback event. They were offering $100 cash for handguns and rifles.
Automatic weapons and assault rifles were turned in for $200.
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And in San Francisco, police said 101 guns were collected in a buyback program there.
