The line formed early and wrapped around the community room at the St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church in Algiers over the weekend. People were handing in guns to New Orleans police.
The gun buyback program allowed people to turn in weapons with no questions asked. They got a $100 Wal-Mart gift card for each handgun, shotgun and rifle -- $200 for an assault weapon. In all, more than 160 weapons were handed over, and covered several tables within five hours.
NOPD Commander Ceasar Ruffin was glad to see the haul.
“I’m sure there have been many paths they took to get here. I’m sure that some of the people that was turning them in were probably turning them in for other citizens. But whatever path they took to get here, we’re happy for them. Happy that they’re here," Ruffin said.
It was arranged by City Councilwoman Nadine Ramsey and the Metropolitan Crime Commission, with support from New Orleans Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond.
“We now have 200 less homes that have a gun for a minor to find, to accidentally shoot a loved one, for a depressed person to just pick it up and commit suicide. So it’s important to just take the risk out of the homes and then we can also talk about the number of people who have bad intentions," Richmond said.
Ramsey says the buyback is aimed at reducing gun violence.
Copyright 2016 WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio
