By Ruth Dusseault. Bay City News.
On Saturday, a number of Bay Area police and sheriff departments held a gun buyback event in San Francisco, where they recovered 223 of them, including five assault weapons and two untraceable ghost guns.
In the coming days, after their serial numbers are recorded, all weapons will be taken to a recycling facility and destroyed.
The program is funded in part by San Francisco County Citizens for Gun Buyback and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In 2016, San Mateo voters approved Measure K's half-cent sales tax extension, which has helped fund the buyback program for four years. This is the last of eight buybacks in that grant cycle.
“We have guns that come from people from all walks of life,” said Sergeant Javier Acosta of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. “Some of the weapons are from people who inherited them and who don't want to use them. “Most of them are guns.”
The biannual event also has an educational component, where authorities and staff are available to answer questions and concerns about firearms safety. It is unclear whether funding for the program will be renewed.
On November 3, San Mateo County posted a Notice of Funding Opportunity on its website, requesting proposals for the use of Measure K funds, for which applications are due January 5.
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