Nearly 1,000 firearms turned in at Bay Area buyback events

318 guns bought back in San Francisco

The event took place Saturday. Gun owners were offered $100 per firearm.

SAN FRANCISCO - Hundreds of guns were collected at buyback events around the Bay Area on Saturday, and organizers said they were encouraged by the turnout.

"One gun, one bullet that kills someone can destroy the planet," said Rudy Corpuz of United Playaz, a violence prevention and youth development organization that partnered with San Francisco police for the event.

The San Francisco buyback collected 318 guns, including 17 assault rifles, during the four-hour event on Saturday morning.

Those who turned in guns earned $100 for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and $200 for assault rifles.

Other events around the region to give residents a venue to safely and anonymously turn in weapons were held Saturday in Gilroy, San Carlos and Vallejo.

At the San Carlos event, 392 firearms were turned in, including eight assault rifles, said San Mateo County Sheriff's spokeswoman Detective Rosemerry Blankswade.

One person turned in a 26-gun collection that she had inherited, Blankswade said. In all, the peninsula event paid out $39,700 for the guns turned in.

Vallejo police said that at the 2019 Solano County Gun Buyback event at the county fairgrounds yielded 154 firearms, up from the 115 turned back in 2018.