Five shopping carts filled with shotguns and two plastic crates full of pistols lined the edge of a shopping center parking lot in Compton, where the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department hosted its first gun buyback day since 2009 on Monday.
A steady stream of cars began arriving at the shopping center at 9 a.m., an hour before the buyback was to begin, to trade in weapons for gift cards to Ralphs or Target.
Deputies, following a "no questions asked" policy, examined firearms and priced them based on the type of weapon and whether or not it worked: $200 for assault weapons; $100 for operational handguns, rifles and shotguns; $50 for parts or non-working weapons.
By 2 p.m., more than 250 weapons had been dropped off, Det. Fernando Gonzales said, including nearly a dozen assault rifles.
"No one is challenging people in terms of the right to own a weapon," Sheriff Lee Baca said in an interview with The Times. "But how many pistols do you need?"
The buyback was the second in as many months in L.A. County. In late December, the Los Angeles Police Department collected 2,037 firearms at a similar buyback, including 75 assault weapons and two rocket launchers.
