The San Luis Obispo Police Department held a first-of-its-kind groceries for guns event where around 200 guns were collected.
The idea is simple people anonymously trade in their unwanted guns for grocery store gift cards, no questions asked.
“Really take those guns that people do not want in their home maybe inherited them, maybe your significant other passed away and they were a gun person and you weren’t so maybe you don’t know how to handle them safely or secure them right," said Captain Fred Mickel with SLOPD.
The goal was to take as many unwanted or unused guns off the street and put them into a safe and secure place.
“We came up with this idea after seeing the mass shootings in texas and we wanted to do something as city as a department to try to curve gun violence," explained Mickel.
All community members had to do was drive up and open their trunks.
“We've had people show up with one or two guns to people with a crate full of 20 guns," said Mickel.
“I used to live on the ranch and I have a couple of guns, a rifle, and a pistol and I have no need for them anymore so I’ve just decided to turn them in," said Los Osos resident, John Ogden.
Each gun was a different dollar value, a non-functioning handgun or rifle $50 gift card, a functioning handgun or rifle $100, and a functioning assault rifle $200 gift card.
SLOPD said they had 12,000 dollars worth of gift cards and they ran out of them halfway through the event, however, community memebers still dropped off guns without getting anything in return.
The police department also added they do get people coming into the station every couple of weeks to drop off firearms.
