Gun buyback program still has plenty of cash SACRAMENTO (AP) - A $1.4 million state buyback program designed to take illegal assault rifles off the streets hasn't found a lot of customers. Lawmakers gave the Department of Justice enough money to purchase 5,000 SKS Sporters from their owners. Despite the state's offer of $230 per gun (about $100 more than it is usually worth) officials have been able to buy only 350 of the firearms. No one knows if that is more or fewer than the number of guns actually on the street, because no records are kept on the number sold or brought into the state. ’There's just not a good or easy way to find out how many are out there,'' said Janelle Beland, a spokeswoman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer. ’The $1 million budget was an educated guess. We truly don't know how many there are.'' Sales records on rifles, such as the SKS Sporter, erase personal information five days after the purchase. That includes names, the number of guns and the model, Beland said. The state government gives gun owners a year to destroy their modified SKS Sporter, take the gun out of state or sell it to the state before it becomes illegal Dec. 31. After that date, anyone caught with an SKS Sporter with a detachable clip risks having their gun confiscated and being charged with a felony. The semiautomatic rifle was manufactured in China. The original model held 10 shots, but a conversion kit would allow the user to attach a 30-round clip. Only the converted models are eligible for the refund. A lawyer for the National Rifle Association and the California Rifle and Pistol Association said the state Justice Department isn't seeing results because they aren't letting people know about the buyback and the impending deadline. ’There are a lot of people out there who become accidental felons under this, but if you don't hear about it, you can't do anything,'' Chuck Michel said. ’There was supposed to be a whole hell of a lot more publicity.'' Of the gun buyback program's $1.4 million budget, $300,000 was allotted for publicity. The attorney general's office has spent $234,000 of that on television and radio ads and posters. Lt. Bob Masterson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department said he's sure there are more SKS Sporters in his county than the 34 guns his department has purchased. After Alameda County, most of the guns are coming from the Central Valley, Beland said. The attorney general's office has approved 32 refunds for Bakersfield since January, followed by Fresno with 17, Merced with 10 and Visalia with six. Tim Morey, in charge of collecting SKS Sporters for the Downey Police Department, said his office has brought in five guns, and he ’didn't expect a line out the door. ’Of the five, only two of the guns had ever been fired. The others had left them in the box,'' he said. ’It's a third-world military rifle.''

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