Three Peninsula cities are hosting an anonymous gun buyback in East Palo Alto today.
The event was inspired by two dads who said they were motivated to do something following the Newtown shootings.
Organizers Roger Lee and James Cook both have children in Palo Alto schools and said they were deeply impacted by what happened in Connecticut late last year.
They helped form the Menlo-Park based group Protect Our Children which raised more than $30,000 for Saturday buyback.
Police agencies from East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto are also sponsoring the gun purchase event, which will take place in the parking lot of East Palo Alto City Hall between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Local residents will be paid $100 for a handgun, $200 for a rifle or shotgun, and $300 for an assault weapon.
Guns will be accepted anonymously with no questions asked. No names or license plates will be recorded and the guns will be marked for destruction.
Officers asked participants to transport firearms unloaded in the trunks of their cars. East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis said in a statement that the buyback is part of Operation SMART, or Strategic Multi-Agency Response Team, a multi-jurisdiction effort launched in 2011 to combat a local spike in gang-related violence.
"This multi-agency gun buyback event provides residents a safe venue to remove unwanted firearms from our community," Davis said.
Local
Police chiefs from East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Palo Alto will join representatives from local nonprofit Protect Our Children for a news conference following the event at 2:30 p.m.
The buyback will be held at East Palo Alto City Hall, located at 2415 University Ave.
