The King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) collected 228 firearms and handed out more than $30,000 in gift cards at its second annual gun buyback Oct. 17 at the agency’s Burien Precinct 4.
The event gave people a place to turn in unwanted firearms anonymously in exchange for gift cards. Deputies tagged the guns and checked serial numbers, and participants received Visa gift cards in amounts that varied by firearm, KCSO said in a video (embedded below).
Public Health – Seattle & King County partnered with the Sheriff’s Office on the event.
“This helps us prevent suicide,” KCSO Sgt. Val Kelly said in the video. The agency also offered free lockboxes to people who still had firearms at home and shared information on where to get help during a crisis.
“We also gave them free lockboxes if they had additional firearms at home, a safer way to store them than just having them in a closet,” Kelly added.
Police said this year’s event surpassed last year’s. Kelly said the buyback also gave people a way to turn in guns they had inherited and did not know what to do with.
Burien, SeaTac and 11 other municipalities contract with the King County Sheriff’s Office for police services. The sheriff’s office also serves White Center as part of unincorporated King County.
Video
Here’s a video about this event, courtesy KCSO:
