Houston to host gun buyback event July 30

HPD is asking participants to unload guns and place them in their vehicles. When someone arrives at the buyback, officers will open the vehicle and take the gun.

After a firearm instructor renders the gun safe, the participant will be provided with a gift card. Cards of $50 will be given for non-functioning guns, $100 for rifles and shotguns, $150 for handguns and $200 for automatic rifles, Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said at a press conference.

Participants can turn in more than one gun as well as any amount of ammunition. However, ammunition cannot be traded for gift cards.

Ellis said the program gives gun owners two incentives to turn in their firearms.

“One is the gift card, and the other is creating a safer community,” he said.

The point of the program is to take unwanted guns and stop guns from getting encircled in illegal trade or getting in the hands of criminals, curious children and teenagers, officials said. Similar programs have yielded results in Los Angeles, Syracuse, and Tampa.

During a July 21 meeting of the city's Public Safety and Homeland Security committee, Assistant Chief Milton Martin said this program is one piece of a much larger effort to address Houston’s violence problem.

The gun buyback effort is a $1 million program within Mayor Sylvester Turner’s $53 million One Safe Houston initiative. Other elements include hiring more police officers, collaborating with other law enforcement partners, and funding the justice system to get rid of the backlog of cases caused by Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19.

”From where we were in January and February to where we are today, the homicide rate of the city of Houston is flat in comparison to last year,” Turner said. “In other crime categories the numbers are down. So we are seeing positive results, but it takes a holistic approach. Don’t view the gun buyback program as just this one element alone. Please consider it as a part of [One Safe Houston].”

Sofia Gonzalez contributed to this report.