Houston’s 4th gun buyback event at NRG tops last 3 with over 1,400 guns collected

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Over 1,400 guns were collected at Houston’s fourth gun buyback program on Saturday at NRG, making it the most successful of the last three buybacks that were held previously.

The event, in collaboration with Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, ran from 8 a.m. to noon in the Yellow Lot of NRG Park. Houstonians were able to bring in their firearms and exchange them for money in the form of a gift card.

In a tweet, Mayor Turner announced the final tally once the event was over. In total, there were 1,446 guns collected.

With this amount, the city has taken in over 4,200 guns with all four events combined.

City officials hosted two previous successful gun buybacks. The first gun buyback collected 793 guns, and the second event collected 1,252 guns. Harris County Precinct One, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, and the City of Houston collaborated for a third gun buyback earlier this year and collected 793 firearms.

The event is completely anonymous, and no contact information is collected.

Those who did participate were able to receive a specific amount, depending on what they brought:

• $50 – Non-functioning firearm

• $100 – Shotgun or rifle (hunting)

• $150 – Revolver

• $150 – Semi-automatic handgun

• $200 – Semi-automatic rifle

According to data from our ABC13 Neighborhood Safety Tracker, after the first two gun buyback events, violent crime went down in Third Ward and Alief.