District police collected 349 firearms Saturday in a daylong buyback event meant to curb gun violence in the city.
The program netted 70 more weapons than the buyback held on Dec. 15, bringing this month’s haul to 628 guns at a cost of $33,100.
Two-thirds of the guns gathered Saturday were dropped off at Shiloh Baptist Church on 9th Street in Northwest, one of the three locations where the department held the collections, according to police.
The guns collected that day included some semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15 and AK-22 — guns similar to the M-16 and AK-47, respectively — as well as a Tech-9 and AR-14, according to an e-mail from Assistant Chief of Police Diane C. Groomes to district residents.
The Metropolitan Police Department offers the program as a way for owners to turn in their guns without fear of prosecution. It was open to residents of D.C., Alexandria, and the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery and Arlington.
Police offer $100 for assault rifles, $50 for revolvers, derringers, shotguns and rifles, and $10 for BB or pellet guns.
While buyback programs have grown popular in some major U.S. cities, studies have cast doubt on whether they live up to promises of cutting violent crime. A 2001 study from University of Pennsylvania professor Lawrence Sherman concluded there was no evidence the buybacks caused any reduction of gun violence.
