90 FIREARMS ARE COLLECTED AT CHULA VISTA GUN TURN-IN EVENT

Sheriff’s Department offered $100 and $200 gift cards

A total of 90 firearms were collected Saturday at a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s Guns for Gift Cards event in Chula Vista.

Individuals received a $100 gift card for each handgun, rifle or shotgun or a $200 gift card for an assaultstyle weapon, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release. The event took place in the Chula Vista courthouse parking lot on Third Avenue.

All weapons will be processed to determine whether any were reported stolen or involved in a crime, officials said. If stolen, the original owners will be contacted. If involved in a crime, the appropriate law enforcement agency will be contacted. All remaining weapons will be destroyed.

Anyone can turn in unwanted weapons at any sheriff’s station or substation, the release states. For safety, the gun should be kept in the trunk of the car until the owner receives further instructions from a deputy.

The Sheriff’s Department regularly holds the Guns for Gift Cards exchanges across the county, and at times collects 300 or more firearms at a single event. Several local law enforcement agencies helped organize Saturday’s event.

NANCEE E. LEWIS FOR THE U-T Dana Duplesis, from Poway, waits in a car Saturday after turning in her deceased father’s guns at a guns-for-gift-cards event Saturday in Chula Vista.