ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Community organizers in Albuquerque say they have collected more than 200 unwanted guns at the latest buyback event.
It was the event's 17th year and organizers said their goal is to help curb gun violence across the metro.
Of the guns collected Saturday, 18 were assault rifles.
People traded in guns for a gift card.
"We ran out of cards after the first two hours. We went through $26,000 worth of cards," Miranda Viscoli, co-president of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, told Albuquerque TV station KOB. "We ran out and people were still showing up with guns and they say, 'I don't care about the gift card. I just don't want to have this gun in my home anymore."
Organizers said they plan to donate the dismantled guns to a Albuquerque charter school where students will learn how to forge the parts into gardening tools.