On May 20, 2023, the Sacramento Police Department hosted its first gun buyback event of the year, which resulted in 128 guns being collected by the department. Community members were able to exchange unwanted handguns for $50 and unwanted long guns or privately manufactured firearms (ghost guns) for $100. The process was anonymous with no questions asked.

Among other reasons, community members most commonly cited a lack of experience or knowledge with firearms, lack of knowledge of the legality of the firearms, or an inability to safely store the firearms as the main reasons for participating in the exchange. The firearms will be safely stored and destroyed at a later date.

The event lasted about five hours and over $10,000 was given out. Department officers and professional staff were on hand to facilitate this event. The Sacramento Police Department would like to thank Kaiser, Northern State Ecumenical Conference (NSEC), Knights of Columbus, the MLK Committee and the Sacramento Police Foundation for their support as sponsors of this event.

“The Sacramento Police Department recognizes that community safety is a shared responsibility between the police department and the citizens we serve. We will continue to use innovative ideas to address gun and violent crime in our community,” said Sacramento Police Chief Katherine Lester.