BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Police buying your gun is not something you hear every day, but for the City of Delano, the gun buyback means more safety for residents.
The most important part about this is that there are absolutely no questions asked by police.
“For this event, our focus is community safety and making sure that if one less gun is on the streets, then it’s one less gun that can be utilized in violent crimes, or that can be stolen from a household,” said Sgt. Julian Ortiz with Delano Police Department. “Statistics show that almost half a million firearms annually get stolen from residents due to improper storage.”
Many homicides involve stolen firearms. However, the department says there are many other reasons why a gun might end up in someone’s hands.
“Sometimes we inherit items from our grandparents or from family members,” said Detective Contreras. “Sometimes we come across them through finding them, discarded items or sometimes they’re just passed around from family to family.”
This is the perfect time to get some cash for those guns.
“For handguns or pistols, we’re offering $100 in cash, and like I said, there’s no information exchanged or anything like that,” said Sgt. Julian, “And for long rifles, AR platforms or ghost guns, which are illegal firearms that don’t have any kind of serial number or that were manufactured illegally, we offer $200, and each person is able to receive up to a max of $500 dollars.”
DPD advises that firearms should be unloaded and transported in the trunk. Participants are asked to remain in their cars, and officers will take in the firearms to inspect them. Firearms should be in working condition to qualify for buyback.
The event is Saturday, Aug. 19 at the Delano Police Department located at 2330 High St. in Delano. The event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
If you are not sure your firearm qualifies, you can still have officers inspect it.
