Pittsburgh Gun buyback program pulls in over 140 firearms

[HiredGoon]

Buyback program pulls in over 140 firearms
Goods for Guns prevents accidental shootings, police say
Sunday, December 13, 2009
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Tom Greene walked into a Downtown firehouse yesterday and gave two handguns to Philip Dacey, president of Goods for Guns of Allegheny County Inc. and a retired city police lieutenant.

Mr. Greene, of Homewood, who received $100 in grocery store gift cards in return, said he was happy to have the guns "out of my hair."

Mr. Dacey, who said the 16-year-old program has taken about 11,000 guns off the streets, was happy to relieve him of the worry.

"It's an accident waiting to happen," he said of a gun laying around the house.

Similar programs exist in other cities. Mr. Dacey said Pittsburgh's program began after two surgeons at Allegheny General Hospital became concerned about the number of youngsters they were treating for gunshot wounds, "accidental and criminal."

He and other volunteers raise money to buy gift cards, which are used to lure gun owners. They receive $50 worth for a handgun and $25 worth for a long gun.

Goods for Guns was on hiatus last year because the group wasn't able to raise enough money. But Mr. Dacey said yesterday's haul of more than 140 guns showed the need for the program.

Police officers check each gun to see whether it's stolen. In most cases, the guns are legally owned by people who no longer want them or never really wanted them in the first place.

"Good people trade them in, not the bad people," Mr. Greene said.

Mr. Greene said the guns he traded in belonged to his wife, who died in 2007.

Mr. Dacey said Goods for Guns probably prevents more accidental shootings than gun crimes. He's satisfied with that, noting some people who bring in guns are so unfamiliar with them that they can't tell whether they're loaded.

"They don't know what end was up," he said.

Tina Davis, of East Liberty, brought in a gun owned by her husband, who died 25 years ago. She didn't know whether it was loaded and long wanted rid of it.

She heard about the program yesterday morning and decided on the spot to take the gun Downtown. She said the $50 in gift cards will come in handy to pay for her Christmas dinner.

With his two boys and two girls in tow, John Thornton of Lincoln Place brought in two long guns, saying he was doing it to keep the children safe.

"You know how boys are," he said.

Often, Mr. Dacey arranges for the guns to be burned in a local mill. But some are embedded in a Providence, R.I., totem pole made by Carnegie Mellon University graduate and artist Boris Bally.

Mr. Dacey said he's willing to take in guns until the gift cards run out. Gun owners who weren't able to make it Downtown yesterday can contact him at goodsforguns@verizon.net.

Another version of this:

Goods for Guns nets 113 weapons in exchange program

By Walter F. Roche Jr.
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 13, 2009

Dale Lesonick and his family were cleaning in their basement Saturday morning when they came across three handguns.

"I knew they were there, but never used them. They were my dad's, I think," Lesonick of Robinson said. "They were just laying around."

Earlier in the day he had heard an announcement on the radio about a gun buy-back event Downtown.

Lesonick placed the guns in a plastic bag and headed to the old No. 1 Firehouse to turn in the guns and collect gift cards good on grocery purchases.

Yesterday marked the 15th year of efforts by Goods for Guns of Allegheny County, Inc. to get potentially dangerous guns out of circulation -- permanently.

By 1 p.m. when Lesonick left, nearly 75 pistols and 18 long guns were laid out on tables inside the former fire house on the Boulevard of the Allies.

Philip Dacey, president of the organization, said business was especially brisk when they opened the doors at 10 a.m. He said the good turnout may have been due to a one-year hiatus in the program. A lack of funding prevented a program last year.

Though the air was chilly, the bright sunshine may also have helped.

Just before Lesonick deposited his pistols, a man and woman, who declined to be named, dropped off two pistols emptied from plastic bags.

Like Lesonick, they collected grocery gift cards.

Under the program, each handgun netted $50 in gift certificates. Long guns brought a $25 gift certificate. Free gun locks and handouts on gun safety also were available.

"I appreciate it," Lesonick, tall and bearded, said as he placed the gift cards in his pocket.

In past years, Dacey said, the guns turned in have ranged from regular handguns and rifles to homemade models including one carved out of wood. Some 11,000 guns have been collected since the program began 16 years ago.

"We never know what to expect from year to year," said Dacey, a former Pittsburgh police officer.

He said the organization will hold on to the guns for at least 30 days to see if any turn out to be stolen, then they will be disposed of, mostly likely by having them melted down in a steel mill.

One year, Dacey said, they turned some guns to a craftsman to fashion artworks.

Dacey, who said he is a gun collector, said the goal of the program is to collect "the kind of guns that end up in the wrong hands."

Under the program, those turning in guns are not asked to identify themselves.

"No questions asked," Dacey said, adding that even if the guns turn out to be stolen, the weapons are out of circulation.

By the 4 p.m. closing Dacey reported a total of 113 guns had been turned in. Though the organization has collected more in past years, the higher total came when there were multiple collection points.

"For a single site, that's a good number. It was well worth the effort," he said.

About the writer
Walter F. Roche Jr. can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7894.

[knight0334]

Did they perform a proper transfer for the handguns if they aren't a properly licensed dealer?

If not I'm thinking conspiracy to facilitate(18.903) and solicitation(18.902) of a crime.

[Emptymag]

"Good people trade them in, not the bad people," Mr. Greene said.

'nuff said.

[XD45]

i'm sure i'll have folks coming at me with torches on this one, but I really don't see a huge problem with gun buybacks. It's not like they are offering 3x's the value of the gun straight cash, just to get it off the street. I'd also be willing to bet about 99% of the people turning in these guns have them tossed in the back of a closet, or up in the attic/down in the basement and would never think, or even know how to use it in self defense. I figure in alot of these cases were the gun will never be used in any manner its better they get rid of them until they do get stolen and used in a crime.

It's also not the gun buy back programs fault people are dumb enough to settle for 25 or 50bucks in food for them.

[normanvin]

i'm sure i'll have folks coming at me with torches on this one, but I really don't see a huge problem with gun buybacks. It's not like they are offering 3x's the value of the gun straight cash, just to get it off the street. I'd also be willing to bet about 99% of the people turning in these guns have them tossed in the back of a closet, or up in the attic/down in the basement and would never think, or even know how to use it in self defense. I figure in alot of these cases were the gun will never be used in any manner its better they get rid of them until they do get stolen and used in a crime.

It's also not the gun buy back programs fault people are dumb enough to settle for 25 or 50bucks in food for them.

It is the fact that they are such a big success every time they take one off of the street.

Mr. Dacey, who said the 16-year-old program has taken about 11,000 guns off the streets, was happy to relieve him of the worry.

One gun off the street is cause to have another buy back.

[XD45]

It is the fact that they are such a big success every time they take one off of the street.



One gun off the street is cause to have another buy back.

Point taken on that, they also treat it as every gun they take in is equal to about 5lives saved which is obviously BS. I'd personally like to see them go away as it makes me sick of some of the works of art they burn up thanks to these but I still don't feel they are total evil.

[Emptymag]

Evil? No. I don't like seeing firearms just lying around in the hands of those who are afraid to even look at them either, and I have no issue with those people who are turning them in - they don't know any better.

My issue is with gun owners who actually support such programs. WE know better.

[39flathead]

Tina Davis, of East Liberty, brought in a gun owned by her husband, who died 25 years ago. She didn't know whether it was loaded and long wanted rid of it.

I wonder if this woman is the one that turned in what appears to be a Luger laying on the table.
Her $50 gift card might have easily been $500 if the dumbass had ever heard of a gunshop.

Yea, I know, it is not her fault for being stupid, nor the programs fault for being crooks, and the guy running the buyback is a collector and that in itself sounds fishy to me.

If the Sheriff does these buybacks, fine, but this guy appears to be a private citizen and call me cynical, but how do we know that these guns aren't being stripped down for parts and sold at a profit. Just exactly do these guns belong to when this guy takes possesion of them?

I don't like it.

[Stooperzero]

but how do we know that these guns aren't being stripped down for parts and sold at a profit.

+1

You know it's happening.

[Shawn.L]

+1

You know it's happening.

and how do you know the money donated to pafoa isnt being spent on hookers and blow ?

the knee jerk reaction to these sounds absurd. I know people are emotionally invested in their politics but this crap is, well, I'll quote my other post on this topic from another thread:

yes.

why is anything done by a group that is anti-gun automatically a bad thing?

what if they all volunteered to pick up litter in the Hill and donate food to soup kitchens ?

If someone really has no idea about the un-safe to fire POS their in law left under the couch before he died, and doesnt care what its worth then why not let these guys pay their money to get it off the street?

I am not a supporter of unsecured guns owned by people who dont want them left laying around.
I also do not support criminals having guns.

someone has to give me a better reason than "Cause of who its done by".

and furthermore when we as a group go out of our way to oppose loudly actions that dont adversly effect us I think we just look more like nut jobs.