Daley and other officials spoke Thursday at one of 22 turn-in sites.
Anyone turning in a gun gets a prepaid credit card worth $100 for an assault weapon, $75 for other firearms, and $10 for a BB gun, air gun, or replica gun.
Mayor Daley wants assault weapons banned.
"What do they need it for? To kill one another, simple as that," he said. "How would you like to have this gun aimed at a police officer, your son or daughter, or mother or father, or your brother or sister? This gun aimed at them. And what are they supposed to do?"
"This year, we've recovered over 2,700 guns, so far. That's an average of almost one an hour," said Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis.
Weis says Chicago police recover more illegal weapons than Los Angeles and New York combined.
