Hawthorne City and the Hawthorne Police Department hosted the city’s first gun buyback in the City Hall parking lot, where residents surrendered firearms in exchange for gift cards, a reporter said.

Organizers described the event as a public-safety measure and a community outreach effort. "The event was an attempt to not only make the community safer, but also an opportunity to spread a little holiday cheer as well," Speaker 1 said.

Participants and organizers emphasized removing idle firearms from homes. Speaker 3 said the buyback is intended to prevent firearms from being "sitting at home and doing nothing," and warned that an unsecured gun "might just get it, and maybe have an exit an incident." "So we try to make sure that this gun is off the street," the speaker added.

Officials on site screened weapons and controlled traffic flow into the collection area. As described at the event, police checked serial numbers and confirmed whether a firearm was linked to any crime; if the weapon was not involved in a reported crime, participants received a gift card. "They will maybe check the gun, check the serial number, make sure that the gun is not involved with any crime. And then if the guns are clean, they'll come and they'll get a gift card," Speaker 3 said.

The buyback was open only to Hawthorne residents; no walk-ups were permitted, and organizers accepted a maximum of three firearms per resident, the report said. The event took place in the parking lot of City Hall.

For HCTV, I'm Tony Long Junior.