Filipino American anti-violence group buys back guns

SCREEN CAPTURE / KTVU

Some of the weapons that were turned in for cash.

More than 228 guns were returned Saturday during an annual gun buyback program sponsored by a Filipino American community group.

United Playaz founder Rudy Corpuz said people turned in 228 guns, including 8 assault rifles during the four-hour Saturday (Dec. 12) event. 

“Our whole mission is to end senseless gun violence,” United Playaz founder and executive director Rudy Corpuz said Tuesday at the United Playaz office. “I’m a survivor of gun violence and I am highly against gun violence.”

The event was organized by the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Violence Prevention Services, the San Francisco Police Department and the United Playaz, a Filipino American violence prevention and youth development organization based in San Francisco's Filipino American Heritage District.

Since it was started in 2014 the gun buyback program, which is anonymous, has collected nearly 2,000 guns.

Returned weapons will be turned into raw material for artists represented by the Robby Poblete Foundation’s Art of Peace program.

Robby Poblete Foundation’s founder, Pati Navalta Poblete, founded the nonprofit in honor of her son, who died after being shot by an illegally obtained gun. The same gun was later resold and used to commit another crime

“That’s what gun violence does in a matter of seconds — it can rob someone of their life, and it can change the lives of everyone left behind including the perpetrators,” Poblete told the S.F. Examiner. 

“Now we’re in COVID-19, and since the pandemic we’ve seen a sharp increase in gun sales," she continued. "We have people facing depression due to unemployment and isolation, so when you add guns on top of that you are facing a convergence of major health crises and more loss of life.”

Corpuz added: “Today we’re saving lives. We have to eliminate senseless gun violence. That’s why we’re here today."