NEW ORLEANS (AP) - It was scheduled to last three hours. But a gun-buy-back event in New Orleans ended much earlier than expected when a bigger-than-expected crowd showed up.
New Orleans news outlets report that hundreds showed up for the event Saturday at a Baptist church. But many were turned away less than 30 minutes after its 11 a.m. start time.
A spokesman for Mayor LaToya Cantrell said “the scale of the turnout was in fact larger than anticipated.”
New Orleans residents were being offered $500 for their guns.
Money to pay for the buy-backs came from the Edward Wisner Donation, a charitable trust established in 1914, according to the city’s website.
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