New York: People surrender more than 3,000 guns in exchange for gift cards

A government-sponsored buyback programme in New York saw people surrender more than 3,000 gunsin exchange for gift cards. These guns were collected over a single day, on Saturday (April 29), across New York state.

“We recovered 3,076 guns today, including 185 assault weapons. Every single one of these guns represents a potential tragedy averted,” tweeted Letitia James, New York Attorney General. Her office hosted Saturday's programme.

ABC News reported that for surrendering untraceable "ghost guns" and assault-type rifles, people were given USD 500 gift cards. No questions were asked. If a person surrendered a handgun, they got USD 500 for the first weapon and USD 150 for subsequent weapons.

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Watch | US gun violence crisis: Stories of survivors

USD 25 gift cards were given to people who returned non-working 3D-printed guns, antiques, or reproductions. Those who surrendered other types of rifles and shotguns got USD 75 cards.

Gun violence is very common in the US. The gun lobby is influential and it uses its political heft to oppose any move to curb gun rights, which are enshrined in the US Constitution.

Cases of gun violence are on the rise this year as well, withat least 15 mass shootings already reported.

US President Joe Biden has often made clear his stance against the easy availability of guns in the country. He has called for a ban on assault rifles.

“Ban assault weapons once and for all. We did it before. I led the fight to ban them in 1994. In the 10 years the ban was law, mass shootings went down. After Republicans let it expire, mass shootings tripled. Let’s finish the job and ban assault weapons again,” Biden said during a State of the Union address earlier this year.

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