The Good! Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In reaction to the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, the Mayor held a gun exchange in his city on Wednesday - allowing residents to turn over their firearms in exchange for grocery store gift cards. Gun owners could receive as much as $200 in groceries for handing over their assault rifles and handguns. The exchange was highly successful, as the city collected nearly 2000 guns in just one day. The gun buyback program was started in 2009, and has taken more than 8000 guns off the streets of LA Let's hope other city's follow LA's lead with their own gun buyback programs.