The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) collected nearly 1,700 weapons in a gun buyback program, it was reported on Tuesday.
The program which traded gift cars for fire arms netted 841 handguns, 539 rifles, 276 shotguns, 40 assault-style weapons and a grenade launcher, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"We were surprised at the quality of some of the weapons," LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck was quoted as saying.
Stolen weapons will be returned to their legal owners, and the rest will be destroyed, said the paper.
Officials have handed out more than 1,300 gift cards worth 130, 200 dollars for grocery stores and Visa credit in exchange for weapons, according to the paper. "These are weapons whose sole purpose is to maim and kill people, " Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in remarks published by the paper.
He added that more guns were taken off the streets in Los Angeles than there were shooting victims in the city all of last year.
The mayor's office started the program after a similar program by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca netted hundreds of weapons across L.A. County. The sheriff's Century station netted more than 700 weapons last year alone.
Gun buyback programs have attracted attention in cities across the country, but studies question their effectiveness in reducing violence, the paper said.
Richard Rosenfeld, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said an analysis of gun buyback programs in St. Louis in 1991 and 1994 found no demonstrable effect on firearm homicide and assault rates.