San Franciscans hand in hundreds of firearms in gun-for-cash campaign

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- People in San Francisco in the U.S. west coast state of California voluntarily turned over about 271 firearms in a gun-for-cash campaign Saturday, the event's organizer said via its official twitter account.

The annual Gun Buy Back campaign, sponsored by San Francisco-based violence prevention group United Playaz, encouraged San Franciscans to bring in their firearms in exchange for money, in a show of their support for efforts to oppose gun-related violence.

By the end of the activity, the organizer twitted that it has received 271 firearms, including five automatic weapons, an AK automatic rifle, and even a cannonball.

Gun owners will not be asked about the source of the weapons in their hands, so that more people are encouraged to turn over their firearms.

The number of firearms collected this year has more than doubled that of last year, and all the weapons will be disassembled, ground up and melted down by specialists at the Police Department.

Gun violence has been a major national concern in the United States as tens of thousands of deaths and injuries occur annually.

The general public in San Francicso are particularly upset about gun-related violence in the country after a mass shooting in Las Vegas in October this year, when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at a music festival, which killed 58 people and injured 546 others.

The incident is the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the United States. Enditem