Police traded gift cards for guns in Los Angeles on Wednesday, in a buyback program Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced as a crime-fighting response to the deadly shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut.
Police officers handed out $200 grocery store gift cards to people who turned in an automatic weapon, and $100 gift cards to those who provided a handgun, rifle or shotgun.
Los Angeles has held an annual gun buyback since 2009, and similar events have been organized in years past in several other cities, including Detroit and Boston. Police in San Diego had a buyback earlier this month.
Some experts say the buybacks have little effect in reducing gun violence, but Villaraigosa touted the buyback program as one step that can be taken in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14 that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult staff members.
The shooter, Adam Lanza, killed himself and also shot to death his mother at the home he shared with her, police said.
Los Angeles normally has its gun buyback in May, but Villaraigosa announced last week that the city would have this special buyback in response to the Newtown tragedy.
"There are a number of things we can do. This is just one of them," Villaraigosa said on CNN. "We've got to also address the culture of violence that we've got in this country."
At last count, the Los Angeles gun buyback had collected 1,366 firearms, including 477 handguns and 49 assault weapons, said Vicki Curry, a spokeswoman for the mayor.
The buyback ended at 4 pm local time, but a final tally of guns collected was not expected to be released before Thursday. In May, the city's annual gun buyback program collected 1,673 firearms at six locations, compared to two locations used for the program on Wednesday, Curry said.
At each of the locations where the buyback was held, a line of cars stretched around the block, Curry said. People dropping off their guns were asked to leave them in the trunks of their cars, where officers retrieved the weapons. Those surrendering their guns were allowed to remain anonymous.
(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
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(Agencies)
周三洛杉磯警方開展回收槍枝活動，用購物卡換槍枝。市長安東尼奧•維拉戈沙宣布這一活動是為了應對康乃狄克州紐鎮瘋狂致命槍擊事件而採取的抗擊犯罪的舉措。
警察向那些上交自動武器的人分發價值200美元的百貨商店購物卡，向那些上交手槍、步槍或獵槍的人分發價值100美元的購物卡。
自2009年以來，洛杉磯每年都會進行一次槍枝回收，過去幾年在其他幾個城市也組織過類似的活動，包括底特律和波斯頓。聖地牙哥的警方在本月早些時候還舉行了一次槍枝回收活動。
某些專家認為回收槍枝對於減少槍枝暴力沒什麼作用，但維拉戈沙表示回收槍枝活動是應對康乃狄克州紐鎮桑迪霍克小學槍擊事件的一個舉措。12月14日發生的這起槍擊事件導致20名兒童和6名成年教職員喪生。
警方稱，槍擊者亞當•蘭扎開槍打死了自己，還在家射殺了和自己一同居住的母親。
洛杉磯往年都是在五月份舉行槍枝回收活動，但維拉戈沙上周宣布，為了對紐鎮的這一慘案做出回應，該市將舉行這場特別的槍枝回收活動。
維拉戈沙在CNN（美國有線電視新聞網）電視臺上說：「我們能做的事情有很多。這只是其中一件。我們還必須對這個國家的暴力文化採取應對措施。」
市長的一名女發言人維姬•卡瑞稱，根據最新統計，洛杉磯這次槍枝回收活動已經收集了1366支槍械，包括477支手槍和49件攻擊性武器。
這場回收活動於當地時間下午四點結束，但所回收槍枝的最終數目將在周四後公布。卡瑞稱，今年五月該市舉行了一年一度的槍枝回收活動，從六個場地收集了1673支槍械，而周三的回收活動從兩個場地就回收了1366支槍械。
卡瑞說，在每個回收現場的街區都排著一列長長的車隊。警方要求前來交槍的人們把槍放在車的後備箱裡，由警察去取回槍枝。警方允許上交槍枝的人保持匿名。
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（中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮）