Cash For Guns Hits Bullseye

It looks as though Washington, D.C., police have hit on an offer that city residents just can't refuse - guns for cash.

District of Columbia police have more than doubled their budget for getting illegal guns off the streets by buying them. Yet officers still managed to spend nearly all of it in the second day of the program.

Some residents showed up with grocery bags full of guns. The plan was extended another day with the help of an additional $125,000.

Police said 1,058 guns were turned in Tuesday at police stations throughout the city. They including handguns, sawed-off shotguns and assault rifles, all illegal in the District of Columbia.

Most of the guns turned in on Monday and Tuesday did not come from criminals, police said, and 57 of them were not paid for because they are legal under the district's law.

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Police say the vast majority of people turning in guns are women. One of them - Gennie Mangrum, who surrendered a .22 caliber pistol - spoke to CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen.

Do residents like Mangrum feel the program is actually working?

"It probably will help them [police]. I will not think it'll stem it, but I think it will help them." she said.

Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer explained it this way: "I can tell you this about these guns: each one has a history. I'm not certain at this moment what that history is, but I know I've altered its future. It will not be used in another crime."

Many who turned in guns were from suburban Maryland and Virginia. They included one collector who handed over more than two dozen guns. Police put no geographical limits on the program, saying guns from other areas can easily be used in the district.

Police are paying for the $225,000 program with money and assets collected from drug dealers. Gainer said the department collects about $800,000 in such funds annually.