Archive for gun buy-backs
LA County Sheriff Spends $95,000 in Gun ‘Buy-Back’
Posted by: | CommentsThe Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department dropped more than $95,000 in Target, Best Buy, and Ralph’s (a supermarket) gift cards to buy 965 firearms from the residents of Compton. What does the Sheriff’s Department hope to accomplish with this money and disarming?
“We’re not naive enough to think that criminals will come in and give their guns,” said Deputy Tim Tellez who coordinated the event for the Sheriff’s Department.
Oh, right. So, this effort is just about disarming the law abiding citizens of your county.
It seems that in the down economy, most people were looking for the supermarket gift cards to put some food on the table.
“I talked to a lot of the people coming through, and most of the people were just interested in getting food and clothing for their families,” said Sgt. Byron Woods of the Sheriff’s Department. “A lot of them normally wouldn’t have turned in their guns, but they really need to put food on the table.”
The sad thing is that Tellez said that a group of protesters that were on scene may have been gun store owners who thought that people were being coerced into giving up their weapons. I guess he doesn’t consider hungry citizens being offered a gift card for food in exchange for their firearm as coercion.
Georgia Gun Buyback Update
Posted by: | CommentsWell the gun “buy-back” in Cobb County, GA went off without a hitch, or much notice, Saturday. A total of 11 (yes…11) guns were turned in for a gift card or amusement tickets. That doesn’t sound like they were terribly effective, which is probably a good thing.
What I deem to be a fairly serious misunderstanding of rights and the role of government, Rep. Alisha Thomas commented about the D.C. vs. Heller case. Thomas said “We want to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and I do think the Supreme Court decision does dampen a city’s rights to pass these kinds of ordinances.” Really? Cities’ rights? I’m sorry, Ms. Thomas, only citizens have rights.
What I find to be a touch ironic, there were no reported ‘gun deaths’ in Cobb County this past weekend. However at Six Flags Over Georgia, one of the sponsors of the gun buy-back who gave out tickets to their park, there was a teenager decapitated by a roller coaster.
From the 11Alive.com website:
Keeping kids out of jail and guns off the streets were the goals of a “stop the violence” event in Cobb County Saturday afternoon. Community leaders say guns and gangs are putting too many kids in harms way and that parents have to step up while the community steps in.
Critics say guns that find their way into the hands of young people is the reason behind many of the problems in urban communities. So local activists are buying them back. “With students out of school anything can happen.
I got my little granddaughter here with me so I thought it would be an awesome thing to bring it back,” Patrina Cooper, a gun owner said. In return, Cooper got tickets to Six Flags.
“I’ve seen too many times we’ve had to go to the cemetery to see the children of their parents who thought that they were responsible and reasonable gun owners,” Derrick Boazman, one of the organizers, said.
Many here were critical of the Supreme Court ruling this week that reaffirmed the second amendment and private gun ownership.
“We want to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and I do think the Supreme Court decision does dampen a city’s rights to pass these kinds of ordinances,” Rep. Alisha Thomas (D-Cobb) said.
11 guns were collected and turned over to Cobb County police in today’s buy-back program.
The “Save Our Youth Stop the Violence Weekend” was sponsored by the Destiny World Church.
