Our group, Citizens for a San Mateo County Gun Buyback, was formed in 2018 following the tragic school shootings in Parkland, Florida. After approaching Sheriff Carlos Bolanos to ask about a gun buyback event in the county, he enthusiastically agreed but charged us with the task of raising funds to distribute in exchange for firearms ... so we went to work. Thanks to our many contributors, we raised enough money to sponsor buyback events in May and December of that year and another in December of 2019 as well.
While we believe that gun buybacks represent just one component of a multifaceted approach to reducing gun violence in our community, we have learned that these events also provide an important educational function. According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost two thirds of the almost 40,000 annual gun deaths in America are in fact suicides. In San Mateo County, statistics from 2016-2020 revealed that during this five-year period, there were 151 gun-related deaths. Of those, 111 or 73% were by suicide and 40 were by homicide. Many of the attendees from our past gun buyback events have stated that their motivation for turning in their firearms was that they simply wanted a safe and easy way to get rid of unwanted guns. Some remarked that they have family members struggling with mental health issues or have young children living at home and having the ability to rid themselves of these weapons, removes the threat of a potential gun-related accident.
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On Saturday, Dec. 11, the fourth countywide gun buyback will take place at 1000 Skyway Road in San Carlos. The buyback hours will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Citizens for a San Mateo County Gun Buyback is pleased to partner once again with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office with additional support provided by the Belmont and Redwood City police departments for this event. Up to $100 will be paid for handguns, shotguns and rifles and $200 for assault weapons. The buyback is completely anonymous and attendees are requested to transport their firearms unloaded and in the trunk of their vehicles. During the previous three buybacks, a total of 1,254 firearms were turned in. Of those, 53 were assault weapons.
During the Dec. 11 buyback, we will provide information on safe storage and other best practices related to gun safety. We will also distribute free trigger locks to anyone who requests them.
We want to thank the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors who unanimously agreed to allocate a portion of Measure K funding toward our buyback events. Deep appreciation is also extended to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Carlos Bolanos for their continued logistical support of these buybacks. We also want to recognize the city of San Carlos who contributed $30,000 in addition to significant matching funds, the cities of San Mateo, Burlingame and Belmont as well as the towns of Woodside and Portola Valley for their generous financial support. Thank you also to 102.9 KBLX for helping to increase awareness of the Dec. 11 event.
Our only goal is to keep our communities safer and we feel that the value of gun buybacks is an important component in reaching that goal.
Al Comolli, Danielle Lacampagne and Bradd Silver are with Citizens for a San Mateo County Gun Buyback
There we go again. Law abiding citizens being encouraged to turn in their firearms, leaving a disproportionate number of guns for the criminals. How many crimes are committed by law abiding citizens using guns anyway versus those in the criminal category? This is a silly effort and a waste of money.
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(2) comments
There we go again. Law abiding citizens being encouraged to turn in their firearms, leaving a disproportionate number of guns for the criminals. How many crimes are committed by law abiding citizens using guns anyway versus those in the criminal category? This is a silly effort and a waste of money.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.