Thousands of guns were surrendered across New York on Saturday after the state launched a buyback programme. Gun owners who gave up the dangerous weapons were given gift cards worth $500 in exchange, The Guardian said. The buyback programme was organised by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said that more than 3,000 guns were given up. These included assault-style rifles and ghost guns, which are built from parts of firearms sold unassembled, the outlet further said in its report.
"We recovered 3,076 guns today, including 185 assault weapons. Every single one of these guns represents a potential tragedy averted," Ms James said on Twitter.
"Thank you to all our partners in law enforcement and government for helping us get these guns off our streets and out of our homes. We'll continue to do everything we can to protect New Yorkers from gun violence," she wrote in another tweet.
New York residents who turned in handguns also received $500 for the first weapon and an additional $150 for each additional handgun surrendered, as per an ABC News report.
The Attorney General's office had set up nine buyback locations across New York, including two in NYC.
New York Post said Syracuse saw a record-setting number of guns being surrendered - 751. Thirty six of these guns were assault weapons, with one of the residents getting $5,000 for turning in a cache of weapons.
There were 90 guns collected at the church alone, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez tweeted.
"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," Gonzalez said at a press conference.
While people were getting $500 for every assault rifle or ghost gun, the government programme offered $150 for each handgun, $75 for rifles or shotguns and $25 for every antique, replica or homemade gun, including 3-D printed guns.
