David West behaved as a cattle buyer might when a prized bull entered the auction ring.

"One-hundred fifty for the revolver sir!" West shouted. "It's not too late!"

Alas, it was too late because the man with the pearl-handled revolver proceeded to turn over the firearm Saturday afternoon in exchange for a $75 Fred Meyer gift card. He chose that route rather than sell the gun for more money to West or any of a half-dozen men standing on a sidewalk between North Broadway Street and a parking lot north of Memorial

Coliseum.

They were among a group of gun buyers who'd staked out periphery positions as a firearms "turn-in" took place inside the parking lot.

for four hours. Gun owners could turn in a weapon to foundation volunteers, who were assisted by Portland police with handling the weapons for eventual destruction. In return for each operable gun, owners received the gift card.

"I believe the majority of people would not

show up here today," said

Liz Julee, "if they did not want their gun removed from circulation."

But a minority clearly knew that the price point began at about $80 cash to sell their weapons to West or to a handful of other buyers on the sidewalk. The group did not venture into the parking lot to solicit potential sellers, having been instructed by Portland police at last year's event to keep their distance.

West, 22, traveled from Medford. One of his

first purchases of the day, a Remington Nylon 66 22-caliber rifle, was for $20. He immediately resold it for $100 to another gun buyer, Darren Campbell of Salem, who recognized the firearm as worth potentially triple what he paid.

West and Campbell both said they were purchasing guns largely because of their resale value. Other buyers said they purchased guns on a principle -- to prevent the firearms from going out of circulation -- but all the buyers interviewed had at some awareness of the firearms' true resale value.

The sellers arriving in their cars at the parking lot -- one buyer who refused to give his name waved frantically at vehicles entering the lot -- typically did not know the resale value of the firearms.

The process in the parking lot probably is unsettling for most people, said Campbell, 47, a diesel mechanic who, with his federal firearms license, has been building an inventory of guns for a sideline business.

"I think they're intimidated by a firearm, they're scared of a firearm," Campbell said. "That's why they're bringing them in."

If transporting a gun across town wasn't disconcerting enough, the scene outside the parking lot may add to that feeling, Campbell said.

"You see a stranger standing on the sidewalk saying, 'Hey, I want to buy your gun,'" Campbell said. "You gotta admit -- I thought it sounded kind of funny."

Portland police officers assisted with paperwork and processing the guns turned in to the foundation. Central Precinct Sgt. Tim Sessions said the police did not have a problem with the buyers on the sidewalk.

"They have a right to buy guns," Sessions said. "That's in the Constitution. So that doesn't bother me a bit."

Sessions dismissed the possibility that the sidewalk buyers would then sell to "undesirables. That's not the case. These people know what they're doing, They know the laws. They know they'd lose that right if they did sell to the undesirables."

Equally unlikely, said Sessions, who assisted the foundation with its guns buyback for nine years, is the notion that gang members would be among those turning in guns.

"They really would like to see the gangs turn in the guns," Sessions said. "And I tell them, 'Keep wishing that.' But it's not going to happen."

Gang members, first of all, want to hold onto their guns because "a gun means power. And two, they see us, the police, and they say 'We don't want to be caught with a gun.'"

So the more typical sellers were Dan and Linda Gilham of Portland. He brought in a 22-caliber Winchester rifle that he'd once shot rodents with many years ago. She brought her father's Remington 22-caliber rifle, long ago removed from his Mount Angel home. Both weapons had been gathering dust in the basement. They felt more comfortable getting the weapons out of the house.

Saturday's collection was deemed a success as 244 firearms were collected along with a crossbow. All weapons collected are melted down.

Julee, the volunteer, is a retired physician assistant who regularly would talk to patients about guns in their homes.

As a former healthcare provider, Julee, 68, knows the statistics: More than 30,000 people die annually by gunfire in the U.S., 57 percent by suicide. An average of 72,000 people are treated every year in hospital emergency rooms for nonfatal firearm injuries. In Oregon, 413 people were shot to death in 2009; 341 of those gun deaths were suicides.

Julee recounted the five instances in her own life where family tragedy was linked to gun violence, including her mother's suicide with a family hunting rifle. Julee was 26 at the time.

"So basically I do this in honor of her," she said.