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INDEXwiredInUSA - September 2014
MAKING
THENEWS
Rifles for rebar
Gerdau Steel Mill, in Rancho Cucamonga,
has formed rebar from tens of thousands
of handguns, rifles and other weaponry
collected by the Los Angeles county sheriff's
department. The products will be used in
county infrastructure projects.
The 21
st
annual Gun Melt event, held in
August, resulted in over 4,600 confiscated
weapons obtained by 12 law enforcement
agencies through the department’s Gifts
for Guns program. Under the program, gun
owners are invited to hand in weapons
anonymously in exchange for a gift card:
$200 for an assault weapon; $100 for a
handgun, rifle, or shotgun; and $50 for a
non-operational firearm.
The smelter and necessary personnel at
Gerdau Steel Mill aredonated to theannual
cause, and the county’s department of
public works trucks the weapons to the mill.
Since the program began, the department
has melted down 178,167 weapons.
The metal is reused as rebar for area
highways and bridges in Arizona, California
and Nevada. Gerdau's vice president,
Mark Olson, calls the annual event: “an
opportunity to make a positive impact on
our community.”
“Gerdau is melting materials that could
otherwise damage our community and
transforming them into steel that will be
repurposed to create the buildings, roads
and bridges we use daily.”