Playstations For Guns Are Offered Up In New Orleans

Dozens of cars lined up outside a New Orleans church parking lot this week as residents flocked to exchange firearms for video game consoles through a city-supported gun buyback initiative meant to improve public safety as Louisiana loosens gun ownership laws.

Leticia Clanton, 50, waited all morning Tuesday for the opportunity. While she had a permit to carry a concealed handgun she had owned for the past decade, she also has eight young grandchildren running around her home. Clanton chose to swap her weapon for a PlayStation 5 worth about 500.

"With all the grandkids and all the violence that they got going on, it's time to get it up off the street," Clanton said. As for the PlayStation? "It's going to be for all of them to share when they come to the house."

Over the course of two hours, city police officers received and dismantled 32 revolvers, shotguns and semi-automatics, all traded in with no questions asked as long the guns were functional. In all, the city collected 94 guns through three buybacks over the last six months, all involving swaps for gaming devices.

A local nonprofit, Unchained Realities, organized the exchanges as part of its Nola Grown gaming program that engages young people in the city with gaming. The nonprofit established two centers for youth to build skills and open up pathways to the gaming world, whether as a competitive player or through game development, graphic design and coding. A third center is in the works.