United Playaz to host 'no questions asked' gun buyback in San Francisco this weekend
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Community leaders in San Francisco will be holding a gun-buyback this weekend. Political leaders, police, and family members of gun violence victims are standing together to get as many guns off the streets as possible.
Among them, United Playaz, whose mission is to get as many guns off the street as possible. United Playaz held a news conference to publicize the upcoming buyback.
"I'm very glad that everybody's here as partners to end senseless gun violence," said Rudi Corpuz from United Playaz.
Backers say every gun off the street saves a life, something Pati Navalta Poblete, a former San Francisco Chronicle staffer, understands too well. Her son, Robby Poblete, was shot to death four years ago.
"And when my son was shot and killed in 2014, I understood what it meant to have that headline be about your family,' said Navalta Poblete.
She now runs a non-profit bearing her son's name that buys guns and turns the scrap metal into art. Guns like the one that killed her son just as he was about to start a new career.
"He had set his suit out for his interview on his bed, and that was the suit that we buried him in," she said.
San Francisco police say firearm related homicides in the city are down 63% compared to last year and all shootings are down by 14%.
"Now the bad news. Last night, early this morning, we had two shootings in the Bayview Hunters point area, which illustrates the point that we need to get more of these guns off the streets," said Toney Chaplin with the San Francisco Police Department.
In a show of unity from one administration to the next, both the current and incoming mayors of San Francisco showed their support for the gun buyback program.
"Why I'm so excited to be here with United Playaz, with our police department and with Mayor Elect London Breed, is because San Francisco is doing something different once again, we are leading the charge," said San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell.
"We not only have work to do in San Francisco, we have work to do around getting guns out of our communities all across this country," said San Francisco Mayor-Elect London Breed.
That gun buyback is set for Saturday morning from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the United Playaz offices at 1038 Howard St. between 6th and 7th Streets.
They say they'll pay $100 for every handgun, $200 for every assault style weapon, no questions asked. They just want the guns off the streets.