Gadgets for Guns
The Other Side, Fairfield Daily RepublicGetting guns off the street
By Kelvin Wade | | July 16, 2009 23:50
Fairfield will soon be offering a gun buyback program. Turn in a gun and receive a gift card to Best Buy or other retailers. It's a decent idea but it could have gone either way.
This could easily fall under the category of Doing-Pointless-Things-To-Make-Us-Feel-Good, which I loathe. On the surface, gun buyback programs always sound ridiculous. What banger is going to walk up to some gun buyback drive, hand over the .380 in his waistband in exchange for a gift card? Would you give up your $400 Sig Sauer 9mm for a gift card? I know some criminals are stupid, but unfortunately for us, they're not that stupid.
There have been critics and studies showing that buyback programs have a negligible effect on crime. Even some gun control advocates have called them worthless. Often guns that are turned in are old, non-working and not the type typically used in crime. Some cities, such as Oakland, have made the mistake of offering too much money for guns. It created an incentive for dealers to unload worthless weapons at a profit or enable people to turn in old guns and buy new ones.
But buyback programs aren't really about the gun-toting criminal. Not directly, anyway. They're about getting firearms out of circulation and that's not a bad idea.
And the guns that are turned in aren't always WWII era rifles. The LAPD conducted a buyback program in May that fetched 1,700 guns including AR-15s, AK-47s and Uzis. One doesn't need a study to see that's a good result. Cases where parents find guns in their teen's rooms and turn them in are also positive outcomes.
So why is a buyback program a good idea even if it doesn't take guns directly out of the hands of criminals? For one, a gun in the home greatly raises the chances that the firearm will be used in a suicide or homicide among family members. Choosing to reduce that possibility is not a bad thing.
Also, as gun owners, we have to make sure our weapons are safe from the reach of children. From time to time, I have small children in my home and it's my responsibility to make sure my guns cannot be accessed by them. So that person turning in an old gun up in the closet just might be preventing a horrific accident.
Now, of course, the reason most Fairfielders have a gun for home defense is to make sure an intruder ends up in the hospital or cemetery and not, God forbid, left to the discretion of DA David Paulson. But we must be responsible.
My other concern, and any responsible gun owners' concern, is to not have my guns stolen and end up on the streets being used in a crime.
There are people who have guns they never use and never intend to use. Old rifles and handguns unsecured, collecting dust in their homes. These are weapons just waiting to be stolen in a burglary and sold on the streets. It is those people with those guns who should consider turning them in.
The program is voluntary. This isn't confiscation. The gift cards and money are donated. Maybe turning in that gun will help avert a tragedy. Peace.
This could easily fall under the category of Doing-Pointless-Things-To-Make-Us-Feel-Good, which I loathe. On the surface, gun buyback programs always sound ridiculous. What banger is going to walk up to some gun buyback drive, hand over the .380 in his waistband in exchange for a gift card? Would you give up your $400 Sig Sauer 9mm for a gift card? I know some criminals are stupid, but unfortunately for us, they're not that stupid.
There have been critics and studies showing that buyback programs have a negligible effect on crime. Even some gun control advocates have called them worthless. Often guns that are turned in are old, non-working and not the type typically used in crime. Some cities, such as Oakland, have made the mistake of offering too much money for guns. It created an incentive for dealers to unload worthless weapons at a profit or enable people to turn in old guns and buy new ones.
But buyback programs aren't really about the gun-toting criminal. Not directly, anyway. They're about getting firearms out of circulation and that's not a bad idea.
And the guns that are turned in aren't always WWII era rifles. The LAPD conducted a buyback program in May that fetched 1,700 guns including AR-15s, AK-47s and Uzis. One doesn't need a study to see that's a good result. Cases where parents find guns in their teen's rooms and turn them in are also positive outcomes.
So why is a buyback program a good idea even if it doesn't take guns directly out of the hands of criminals? For one, a gun in the home greatly raises the chances that the firearm will be used in a suicide or homicide among family members. Choosing to reduce that possibility is not a bad thing.
Also, as gun owners, we have to make sure our weapons are safe from the reach of children. From time to time, I have small children in my home and it's my responsibility to make sure my guns cannot be accessed by them. So that person turning in an old gun up in the closet just might be preventing a horrific accident.
Now, of course, the reason most Fairfielders have a gun for home defense is to make sure an intruder ends up in the hospital or cemetery and not, God forbid, left to the discretion of DA David Paulson. But we must be responsible.
My other concern, and any responsible gun owners' concern, is to not have my guns stolen and end up on the streets being used in a crime.
There are people who have guns they never use and never intend to use. Old rifles and handguns unsecured, collecting dust in their homes. These are weapons just waiting to be stolen in a burglary and sold on the streets. It is those people with those guns who should consider turning them in.
The program is voluntary. This isn't confiscation. The gift cards and money are donated. Maybe turning in that gun will help avert a tragedy. Peace.
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