L.A. County took 5,337 weapons off the streets in Gifts for Guns program

[Updated]
December 30, 2009 | 5:37 pm

L.A. County’s gun exchange program collected 5,337 weapons in 2009, including 144 assault-style rifles.

[Updated at 7:30 p.m.: Officials slightly understated the numbers of guns collected in an earlier version of this post.]

The Sheriff’s Department, along with supporters of the Gifts for Guns program, handed out more than $428,100 in gift cards throughout the year at supermarket parking lots around the county in exchange for the guns.

“I tell the deputies if it is a gun that could harm one of our deputies, then it is a gun we want off the street,â€