SAN ANTONIO — In just a few weeks, people can trade their guns for an H-E-B gift card at the City of San Antonio's second annual weapons exchange.
The event is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. on Nov. 24 at the Alamodome. Last year's gun buyback collected 900 firearms and proved to be so successful that organizers ran out of H-E-B gift cards.
City Councilman John Courage of District 9, who is also running for mayor, has headed up the event.
"That gun that is turned in to us will never hurt a human being, will never commit a crime, will never be used to threaten anybody because it'll be destroyed,” Courage said. "This is not intended to lower crime. What it is intended to do is make people feel safer in their home. The end result of that (is) you end up making a home safer, a street safer, a neighborhood safer, the whole community safer."
The goal this year is to collect 1,000 guns, though the 2024 buyback is limiting how many guns an individual can turn in to 10.
"I would rather help the individual who has one weapon they want to get out of their home than the person who has fifteen weapons," Courage explained. "They want to get out of their home, so we set the limit at ten. We think that's reasonable.”
People will get one gift card per gun that is turned in. For an old shotgun or hunting rifle, people will get a $100 gift card. For a pistol or handgun, a $150 H-E-B gift card will be handed out.
"More people can commit violent actions against a family member or themselves with a handgun," Courage added. "So that's a priority. On the other hand, I think all of us are aware of things like assault weapons or AR-15-style automatic rifles. We give $200 H-E-B cards (for those)."
The San Antonio Police Department has a program that allows people to safely turn in their guns, though there is no incentive attached.
"Normally people probably are hesitant about saying, 'Well, I'm going to take my weapons somewhere even if I don't want them,'" Courage said. "But we made it very clear this was going to be safe. It was going to have a way of ridding yourself of unwanted weapons, but in a safe manner that they wouldn't get back out into the community and that you would get something in return."
Gun-safe locks will also be available at the event.
Metro Health and SAPD will be in attendance.