The El Monte Police Department partnered with LSC Destruction, a firm that provides full service of onsite firearm destruction, to dispose of 192 guns on Thursday, April 27.

The guns — a mix of weapons collected in various crime investigations over 14 years by the department — were disassembled, with the lower portions cut on-site, which officials said makes them unrepairable and unusable.

The upper and lower portions are then retained, and the department is left with a part of the lower portion, which includes the serial number.

Bottom line: The goals is that the guns will never be used again.

LSC’s process guarantees that the guns never leave the department’s facility, and a certificate of destruction and the serial number from each firearm is provided afterwards, officials said.

“We are committed to the safe and responsible disposal of excess firearms, and value LSC’s method that prioritizes disposing of them in a socially and environmentally responsible manner,” said Chief of Police Jake Fisher, El Monte Police Department in a statement. “The use of LSC Destruction’s services meant that we did not need to mobilize a SWAT team to transport firearms to a distant location for destruction and put a strain on our already limited resources..”

Officials reminded residents of El Monte that they can turn in guns by bringing an unloaded firearm in the trunk of their car to the police station.

They can present themselves to the front desk officer seven days a week between 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and let the officer know they have a firearm to be turned in for destruction.

“We encourage all residents of the City of El Monte to take advantage of our firearm turn-in program to ensure that unwanted weapons are disposed of safely and responsibly,” said Fisher.

In 2020, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that the estimated total number of overall firearms possessed by civilian population was 433.9 million.