With the South Bay community still reeling from the brazen shooting at Valley Fair Mall last week, the city of San Jose sponsored a gun buyback event Saturday morning.  

The scheduling of the event may have been coincidental to the Black Friday shootings, but it was not far from the minds of those who arrived to hand over their firearms.  

The timing couldn't have been better for the anonymous buyback. San Jose police were paying people up to $200 to turn in unwanted guns and halfway through the event, they had already paid out more than $10,000.

"Our community really does care about reducing gun violence," said Stacie Shih, SJPD senior public information officer.  "We've had an outstanding turnout.  We have people turning in unneeded and unwanted firearms that they have in their homes that otherwise just sit there.  And this is important for us because the department really prioritizes removing illegal firearms off our streets."

The Black Friday shooting at Valley Fair Mall shook the community, coming in such a crowded, public place. A 17-year-old is suspected of opening fire at a perceived rival gang member, wounding three people.  Police confirmed that the shooting was gang-related and District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced that he would seek adult charges against the juvenile assailant.

"A teenager with a loaded gun is incredibly dangerous and must be dealt with severely in order to protect the community," said Rosen.

But Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said there is another side to the problem.

"Listen, historically, San Jose has had a gang problem," she said. "And that problem always arises out of multiple reasons.  One is poverty, violence, generational trauma and the lack of resources to certain communities."

At the buyback, Arenas said, in such an ultra-wealthy place as Silicon Valley, the widening gap between rich and poor, driving up the cost of living, is causing a feeling of hopelessness and desperation among the youth in low-income families.

"You know, it's the story of those who have and those who do not have," said Arenas.  "We haven't corrected that. We haven't ensured that we lead by equity. The question is, how do we shift that?"

San Jose Councilmember Pamela Campos said she thought the answer lies in shifting priorities when it comes to spending money.

"We know that what is driving this pain and this uptick in youth-involved violence is a lack of investment from our local, our state, and our federal agencies," said Campos.  "Everyone needs to be committed to ensuring that every child, regardless of their zip code, has the opportunity for a quality life.  Because if we are not investing in that, if we are continuing to break their spirit, then there is no other choice for us."

But while that may be the goal, it is one that could take a generation to accomplish.  The question is how to handle the disillusioned young people that already exist. Campos didn't offer an immediate solution to San Jose's gang-related gun violence, but focused instead on a more wide-ranging approach that seeks to get to the root of the problem.

"I know it sounds aspirational, however, we have done this before during World War II," she said, when the country created child-care programs for those working to support the war effort.

San Jose police say they seized more than 800 illegal guns this year, with more than half of them reported stolen.  On Saturday, the weapons were being turned in to keep them from falling into the hands of dangerous people.  

The city and Santa Clara County have scheduled a joint meeting for Wednesday to discuss the issue of youth violence in the area.