Thousands of firearms surrendered in New York

The surrender of arms was conducted through a buy-back scheme.

The buy-back scheme has meant thousands of people have surrendered their arms in return for up to $500 in gift cards.

The New York Attorney General, Letitia James said that more than 3,000 guns were given up as what she described as a “landmark event.”

Guns given in included assault-style rifles and “ghost guns” These are guns built from firearms parts and sold before they are assembled.

Gift cards were also given out for handguns. A $500 gift card was handed out for the first handgun and then another gift card worth $150 for each additional handgun.

There were nine buyback locations including Brooklyn which received 90 guns in three hours. Eric Gonzalez, Brooklyn’s District Attorney said he was “especially pleased” at the number of smaller guns that were handed in.

He went on to say “There’s a lot of firepower on this table and each and every one of these guns is a potential life saved, and a non-fatal shooting avoided.”

In Syracuse, the total gun count was 751. Syracuse mayor, Ben Walsh said “There are too many damn guns in the country. They’re everywhere. And we have too many states that are abdicating their responsibility to ensure that guns are being sold safely.”

New York’s buyback scheme comes in the wake of 13,839 individuals who have died from gun violence in the United States.