Turning in assault rifles for food

[Enoch]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081208/ap_on_re_us/gifts_for_guns

LOS ANGELES – A program to exchange guns for gifts brought in a record number of weapons this year as residents hit hard by the economy look under the bed and in closets to find items to trade for groceries.


The annual Gifts for Guns program ended Sunday in Compton, a working class city south of Los Angeles that has long struggled with gun and gang violence. In a program similar to ones in New York and San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allows residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores.


Turning in assault rifles yields double that amount.


In years past, Target and Best Buy were the cards of choice, with residents wanting presents for the holidays.


This year, most asked for the supermarket cards, said sheriff's Sgt. Byron Woods.


"People just don't have the money to buy the food these days," he said.
Authorities said Sunday that a record 965 firearms and two hand grenades were handed in during the two weekends the program was in operation. That's more than in any other year and easily eclipses last year's total of 387 guns collected over both weekends.


Compton's violent history has been chronicled in such gangsta rap albums as N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton." But Woods said most of the residents who turned in weapons were "family people."


"One guy said he had just got laid off from his job," Woods said. "He turned in five guns and said it would really help him to put food on the family's table."
Gun owners dropped their weapons off at a local grocery store parking lot. Deputies checked the weapons to see whether they had been used in crimes, then destroyed them.


The annual drive started in 2005 after a spike in killings, though the murder rate has since dropped.


One man brought in a Soviet-era semiautomatic carbine.


"If that got into the wrong hands of gangbangers, they could kill several people within minutes," Woods said. "Our biggest fear is a house getting burglarized and these guns getting taken."


The drive also has yielded antique weapons.


Gift cards for the guns exchange were paid mostly by Los Angeles County, but the three companies involved and the city of Compton, which contracts the county for police protection, also donated funds.

Personally...if times were bad my weapon would be the last thing I would turn in...

 

[LeBuick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081208/ap_on_re_us/gifts_for_guns

Personally...if times were bad my weapon would be the last thing I would turn in...

It may have been their last... :laugh:

I like the idea but I have to agree with you, crime will go up as times get worse and they'll wish they kept protection. Not to mention, they can hunt with a gun.

 

[sag38]

It's all based on the false idea that the gun is what is bad. Odd, I've never seen or heard of a gun that aims itself at anyone and then pull it's own trigger.

Are there any stats demonstrating a clear reduction in gun crime where these buy out programs have been implemented? Can they demonstrate a clear connection between the reduction in the murder rate and buying guns? There are other factors to consider such as an increase in law enforcement activity, increased jail time, etc.

 

[North Carolina Tentmaker]

the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allows residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores.

That is the problem with this program, they can turn them in anonymously. Guns that are legally owned can be legally sold and bring in a lot more than $100 apiece (assuming working condition). The guns that get turned into programs like this are either broken or stolen. For the thief wanting to sell stolen guns this program is perfect.

Woods said. "Our biggest fear is a house getting burglarized and these guns getting taken."

I wonder how many of these guns were stolen to start with?

Deputies checked the weapons to see whether they had been used in crimes, then destroyed them.

But did they check to see if they were stolen? There are databases that they could run the serial numbers through. Stolen weapons could be returned to the rightfull owners if the police cared.

 

[North Carolina Tentmaker]

It may have been their last... :laugh:

I like the idea but I have to agree with you, crime will go up as times get worse and they'll wish they kept protection. Not to mention, they can hunt with a gun.

Your right LeBuick

If it comes down to just two people and one has the food and the other has a gun which do you want to be?

You end of the world doomsayers can stock up on canned goods and bottled water, I am investing in ammunition.

 

[Baptist Believer]

"If that got into the wrong hands of gangbangers, they could kill several people within minutes," Woods said.

Within minutes?

Wow.

Just about any tool or heavy object could kill several people within minutes.

This guy seems clueless.

 

[LeBuick]

Are there any stats demonstrating a clear reduction in gun crime where these buy out programs have been implemented? Can they demonstrate a clear connection between the reduction in the murder rate and buying guns? There are other factors to consider such as an increase in law enforcement activity, increased jail time, etc.

I doubt it, who would walk up to these places with an illegal gun? Plus, the gansta's need their guns so they're not turning them in.

 

[LeBuick]

If it comes down to just two people and one has the food and the other has a gun which do you want to be?.

Now that was funny... :laugh: :wavey:

 

[ReformedBaptist]

We have squirrel and deer in our backyard. If I am that hard up for food...I will just get some.

 

[LeBuick]

We have squirrel and deer in our backyard. If I am that hard up for food...I will just get some.

I heard squirrel is greasy...

 

[Revmitchell]

I heard squirrel is greasy...

No. It isn't greasy but it does have a pretty wild taste. I enjoy it.

 

[rbell]

We have squirrel and deer in our backyard. If I am that hard up for food...I will just get some.

Wow. My bad. I thought you guys hunted Arminians.

 

[Baptist Believer]

I'm going to have fun tomorrow morning. I'm taking a pro-gun control guy out to the range to shoot shotguns. He's never fired a gun, but was intrigued by my invitation to shoot. Apparently no one has ever asked him before.

Looks like I'm going to spend half of the morning teaching gun safety and how to handle an assault shotgun.

 

[guitarpreacher]

Quote "Our biggest fear is a house getting burglarized and these guns getting taken."

It's a pretty safe bet that that'w where lots of these guns came from. Also, the headline doesn't match the story. They don't mention any assault rifles being turned in.

 

[padredurand]

I'm all for it!! I would willingly trade a sack of groceries for... say... an SKS - the poor man's 30-30. That'll take a gun off the streets and put it in the rear window of my truck where it belongs.

I'll just run along to WalMart and get a gift card. Any of you feeling guilty about having an evil gun in your possession? Come on up to padre's house. I'll have a little something for your troubles.... :thumbs:

 

[abcgrad94]

I'm all for it!! I would willingly trade a sack of groceries for... say... an SKS - the poor man's 30-30. That'll take a gun off the streets and put it in the rear window of my truck where it belongs.

I'll just run along to WalMart and get a gift card. Any of you feeling guilty about having an evil gun in your possession? Come on up to padre's house. I'll have a little something for your troubles.... :thumbs:

Same here. I'll even add a loaf of home baked bread or some cookies for one of those things. Have you seen the prices of SKS or AK's lately? They're worth way more than $100 bucks!

 

[Baptist Believer]

Well, I took the gun control guy out to the range this morning and he enjoyed it tremendously. After we finished shooting, I pointed out that the assault shotgun he was using would have been illegal under the 1994 Assault Weapons ban, and discussed why. I also showed him my Sig P250 with the 15-round magazine and informed him that the magazine would also be illegal to manufacture under the 1994 ban.

He was surprised.

I think I've made a convert.

 

[Enoch]

Quote "Our biggest fear is a house getting burglarized and these guns getting taken."

It's a pretty safe bet that that'w where lots of these guns came from. Also, the headline doesn't match the story. They don't mention any assault rifles being turned in.

Turning in assault rifles yields double that amount.

Thus where the original headline came from.

 

[Enoch]

I'm all for it!! I would willingly trade a sack of groceries for... say... an SKS - the poor man's 30-30. That'll take a gun off the streets and put it in the rear window of my truck where it belongs.

I'll just run along to WalMart and get a gift card. Any of you feeling guilty about having an evil gun in your possession? Come on up to padre's house. I'll have a little something for your troubles.... :thumbs:

:laugh: good one...

 

[North Carolina Tentmaker]

That'll take a gun off the streets and put it in the rear window of my truck where it belongs.:thumbs:

Now thats funny padredurand.

I did some research. The buy back programs that actually check for stolen guns find a very small percentage (1-3%) of them stolen. They said that stolen guns are worth a lot more money on the street.

Most of these guns are just old, broken, or unwanted.