By Brian Goodin
Contributing Writer
Photos by Brian Goodin
A big congratulations are in order for the 12th Annual Guns for Gift Cards in the Southeast community of San Diego. Encanto Southern Baptist Church at 6020 Atkins Ave was the site, and the event was held Saturday, December 6th.
Lieutenant Kelso of the San Diego Police Department, one of the SDPD’s finest community relations officers, had this to say, “This started as a collaboration between law enforcement and the community. The United African American Ministerial Council was the driving force behind these goings-on. It was 12 years ago that two young African American teenagers were killed in this vicinity and this idea was developed.”
The process involves driving up in a car with the firearms in the trunk of the vehicle to a checkpoint. Law enforcement will retrieve the weapon, or weapons, and photograph and tag it no questions asked. The exchange can be a $100 or $200 gift card. However, if you choose to, you can get a beautiful custom made skateboard instead. The efforts are to get unwanted guns out of homes to avoid theft or other circumstances.
All in all, it was a tremendous success. Upwards of 250 firearms were turned in to be destroyed, making all of us a lot safer.
