A big draw: State Police run out of gift cards to trade at gun buyback events

They came in droves Saturday morning, in vehicles that snaked around the New Mexico state fairgrounds. Some had as many as 60 guns in tow, hoping to turn each one in for a Visa gift card.

Others turned and went home, discouraged by the long line.

Less than two hours into the gun buyback event, New Mexico State Police had run out of gift cards and many people left, taking dozens of guns with them. Others stuck around to turn in their weapons, and more came still, even without the promise of cash.

The gun buyback in Albuquerque was one of three — the others taking place in Las Cruces and Española — put on in conjunction with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public health order targeting gun violence.

Wilson Silver, a State Police spokesman, said 439 guns — 179 handguns and 260 rifles — were collected between the three events. He said 160 of those firearms were turned in after police ran out of gift cards.

Based on those numbers, State Police used between $55,800 and $83,700 worth of gift cards. For handguns, they offered a $200 gift card and, for rifles, a $300 card.

State Police said all of the guns collected would be destroyed.

The gun buybacks began at 8 a.m. and were set to run until 2 p.m. By 9:20 a.m. State Police had run out of gift cards at the events in Las Cruces and Albuquerque. By 9:50 a.m., the same happened in Española.

“This was a proactive measure to help reduce the risk of tragedies involving guns,” State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a statement. “We wanted to help remove unwanted guns from our communities and prevent the risk of deadly accidents, homicides, and suicides.”

In Albuquerque, State Police collected 56 handguns and 54 rifles.

The variety of guns was matched only by the variety of people turning them in: an older man in a Ford truck followed by a young couple in a hatchback, a shiny Derringer pistol in a box across from an Uzi submachine gun.

Some firearms were still loaded. Others were conspicuously wrapped in duct tape or devoid of serial numbers. One rifle had the name “Ray” roughly etched into the stock. Dozens were pristine. Only two had been reported as stolen.

A State Police officer cataloging the guns said one young man showed up with 27 guns and left with as many gift cards, or between $5,400 and $8,100 worth.

Other officers working the event spoke of a man who brought dozens of guns, telling them he had offered people in his neighborhood $100 per gun, hoping to make a profit. But only nine gift cards were left by then, so he took what he could get and hauled the leftovers — more than 50 guns — back home.

Johnny Hendricks pulled up in his truck around 10:15 a.m. to find no more gift cards left. He said he would still turn in his muzzleloader, which he didn’t use or have all the parts for.

“I’m already here; I drove a long ways. I hope it does some good,” he said, watching an officer pull rifles from the trunk of a car in front of him.

Hendricks said he was raised around guns, and they were not something he would “bring to town to kill people with,” calling gun violence a “daily occurrence” in Albuquerque.

He said he and his wife were “always watching the mess” from afar, although he declined to say where he lived.

Another man said he had a gun he had no use for and “it’s not working right, anyway.” The man declined to give his name but said of the gun, “I don’t want it to get out in public.”

The majority of those who pulled in to turn in their guns didn’t want to talk about why.

One couple walked up to the event, the man holding a rifle case, but went back the way they came when they learned all the gift cards were gone, taking the gun with them.