VIDEO. To fight violence, Houston buys guns from its residents

In the car of Marilyn Bragg in Texas: her late husband’s five pistols. “I don’t want this house, I don’t even know how to shoot,” the pensioner says before handing them over to the authorities. In this shooting-ravaged US state, initiatives are multiplying offering residents the opportunity to dispose of their handguns, rifles and semi-automatic weapons in complete safety. “I have grandchildren, and I don’t want them to have access to this,” insists Marilyn Bragg from the metropolis of Houston, where a long line of cars winds, towards a burning weapons dump.

At the end of the line, drivers are asked to leave their weapons in the trunk or in the back seat for inspection. Then the specialized police come and check that the weapon is unloaded and registered. More than a dozen weapons are often found in the car. “I think it’s a great program,” says Stuart Wolf, who has 11 guns in the back of a truck. “There really is no other safe way to break up with him than this,” says the sixty-year-old man.

In just one day on Saturday, about 800 weapons will be handed over to law enforcement agencies. In return, participants are given vouchers: $50 for a weapon that no longer works, $100 for a rifle, and $200 for a semi-automatic rifle, a weapon that has been used in many shootouts in the US.

“We already have enough weapons, and there are some that we don’t need,” Kenneth Blackmon admits along with his wife Loretta. “Then why keep them? We have to get rid of him,” the 69-year-old pleads, handing over seven weapons. Especially since firearm thefts are repetitive and dangerous, he insists.

“Gun theft has increased 16% over the past ten years,” said Rodney Ellis, a Houston county official. Shooting is common in Texas. Since 2009, more people have died in shootings in Texas than in any other US state.

In 2020, the state’s violent crime rate of 446.5 cases per 100,000 population was significantly higher than the national average of 398.5, according to the FBI federal police. Texas will forever be remembered for the horrific massacre at Uvalda, when an American, barely of legal age, bloodbathed an elementary school, killing 19 children and two teachers.