Over 3,000 guns exchanged for gift cards in a single day in New York | World news
In a government-sponsored buyback program to combat gun crime in the United States, more than 3,000 firearms, including assault weapons, were surrendered in one day on Saturday across New York state in exchange for cards gift.
“We recovered 3,076 guns today, including 185 assault weapons. Every single one of these guns represents a potentially avoidable tragedy,” New York Attorney General Letitia James tweeted. The state attorney general’s office hosted Saturday’s program.
Participants were offered $500 gift cards in exchange for handing in elusive “ghost guns” and assault rifles with no questions asked, ABC news reported.
Also, each handgun donated earns participants a $500 gift card for the first firearm and a $150 gift card for each additional gun. Those who returned non-functional replicas, antiques, or 3D printed guns also received $25 gift cards, while those who returned rifles and shotguns received $75 gift cards .
Cases of gun violence are increasing in America. Over 145 mass shootings have been reported in the country, with at least 15 occurring this year alone.
President Joe Biden has also recommended a complete ban on gun violence. During the State of the Union address at the beginning of the year, Biden said, “Ban assault weapons once and for all. We did it before. I led the fight to ban them in 1994. In the ten years that the ban was legal, guns fell. After the Republicans let it end, the guns tripled. Let’s finish the job and ban assault weapons again. “
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In Syracuse, New York, where police reported a 133% rise in homicides during the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, 751 weapons were fired, the ABC news report added.
