PHOTOS: Trading guns for gifts
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies inspect and inventory about a dozen civilian versions of military assault rifles during the annual “gift for guns” exchange program in Compton. One man turned in dozens of weapons. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Scores of cheap handguns known as “Saturday night specials” were turned in to sheriff’s deputies. Throughout the day, people exchanged all types of guns for up to $100 in holiday gift cards to use at local retailers and grocery stores. The collection was anonymous and deputies asked no questions concerning the weapons being exchanged. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Old, rusty civilian versions of military assault rifles are stacked up in a shopping cart. One man who declined to be interviewed or identified exchanged a cache of 58 handguns and rifles that netted him $5,800 worth of gift cards. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A sheriff’s deputy collects and counts more than three dozen cheap handguns in the “gift for guns” program. The annual exchange garnered 232 guns, all of which will be destroyed. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A sheriff’s deputy takes a pair of rifles from the trunk of a car. The exchange program has been a staple of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s crime-reduction efforts in Compton, which has seen a drop in homicides in recent years. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)