Gifts for guns

Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station will be holding a one-day event as part of the Gifts for Guns Campaign tomorrow (Saturday).

“This is the first year our station will be doing this,” said Lt. Greg Sisneros.

The campaign was started by Sheriff Lee Baca and was successful last year, recovering 1800 shotguns, pistols and assault rifles at the Compton and Lennox sheriff’s stations.

“Sheriff [Baca] decided to do this county-wide,” Sisneros said.

The program is simple, bring in a gun in working condition or not, and receive a gift card from a local merchant. A person who brings in a non-working or poor quality gun will receive a $50 dollar gift card, an assault rifle is exchanged for a $200 card and all others are exchanged for a $100 card.

“There will be no questions asked,” Sisneros said of those bringing in the weapons. “No strings attached.”

Deputies will not check to see if the guns were reported stolen or lost at the time of the exchange. They will do a background check later to keep a record of recovered stolen or lost guns but it will not be connected to the person who brought the weapons in.

Siseneros said the purpose of the campaign is to get the guns out of the community. Many times residents may have guns in their homes that belonged to a family member that no longer lives there. Some of the items stolen during burglaries are guns that have been stored in the garage or back in a closet. This event gives community members an opportunity to turn them in safely, he said.

Last weekend Altadena Sheriff’s Department took in 88 guns, while Palmdale and Lancaster stations took in over 2,000 guns. Sisneros does not know how many will be recovered from the Crescenta Valley area but hopes residents take advantage of this opportunity.

“It is anonymous,” he added.

Those wishing to exchange guns for gift cards can do so at 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at the CV Sheriff’s Station, 4554 Briggs Ave. For information call (818) 236-4021. Transport the firearms unloaded in the trunk of a vehicle. At the event those turning in guns are asked to remain in their vehicle until a deputy can direct them.