$50 for your gun

[larrymeyer]

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Massachusetts-Police-Launch-Guns-for-Groceries/1$47160

Massachusetts Police Launch 'Guns for Groceries'


Posted: Friday, June 19, 2009
Updated: June 19th, 2009 01:36 PM EDT


JAKE BERRY
Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.


HYANNIS, Mass. -- How many groceries can an old shotgun buy?

According to local law enforcement agencies, the answer is $50 worth.

The Barnstable County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office and the Barnstable Police Department, among other agencies, announced plans yesterday to launch a firearms exchange program in which Cape residents can trade in their guns for a $50 gift certificate from local grocery stores.

The program, modeled after others across the state and the country, is intended to help residents safely dispose of unwanted firearms to prevent them from being stolen or used unlawfully, District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said during a press conference at the Barnstable Police Station.

"It's a small step," O'Keefe said. "But it could be an important step if people ... decide that $50 of groceries is more important to them than having an old gun lying around."

Authorities don't expect the program to appeal to local criminals. "I don't expect that gang bangers will be coming in off the street," Sheriff James Cummings said with a laugh. But it could be more effective with local residents who find or are left with guns they don't know what to do with.

Often times, local residents are left with firearms after a spouse dies or moves away, and these guns can be dangerous targets during home thefts or break-ins, and eventually used for crimes, Barnstable police Chief Paul MacDonald said.

This past year, Barnstable police recovered more than 50 guns as they executed about 45 search warrants, MacDonald said. The district attorney's office has prosecuted 216 cases for unlawful possession of a firearm around the Cape since 2007, with 70 charges pending, according to Assistant District Attorney Michael Trudeau.

Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms statistics show that 1,538 firearms were recovered by police around the state in 2007, the agency's most recent count.

"Years ago, a call involving a firearm or shots fired was rare," MacDonald said, looking back to when he first joined the force in 1981. "Now it's not out of the ordinary. It is the ordinary. ... It seems like we're responding to them every week."

Although police will run serial number checks on all firearms submitted, they will not hold residents legally responsible for the guns they return. All guns will be destroyed and not kept for re-sale, said O'Keefe who had his own gun stolen during a burglary in 2006. The gun has not yet been recovered.

"We're not looking to prosecute," O'Keefe said. "We're looking to get guns off the street."

Such programs have proved successful for years in other parts of the country, police departments reported. In recent months, departments in Dallas; Philadelphia, and Akron, Ohio, among others, have collected thousands of firearms. Last month, a one-day collection in Los Angeles netted nearly 1,700 guns, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

In Los Angeles, however, the police department offered $100 gift certificates in exchange, and in Binghamton, N.Y., police are offering $150 grocery cards at an event later this month.

At $50, the County Sheriff's offer could amount to pennies on the dollar for some guns located around the Cape, said Sandy Furber, a salesman at the Goose Hummock Shop in Orleans, which buys and sells used guns. An average used Ruger .22 handgun could sell for between $225 and $500, depending on its age and condition, Furber said. But, for some of the old, antique guns found in Cape attics and basements, $50 is a steal, he said.

"You see a lot of guns that would only go for $15 or $20. I usually tell them I'll just get rid of them for them," Furber said. "There are a lot of people who could take advantage of (a program like this)."

[WillAdams]

Every time I read of such a program I think back to a Time Magazine article about one w/ a photo showing one of the "guns" bought back, a Marksman air pistol.

William

[riverpirate]

i have a old crossman air pistol out in the garage think i can get some ice cream for it???

[reichebrown]

Now i can trade in my dangerous guns and buy something nice and safe with them, like cigarettes!

[Warpt762x39]

i have a old crossman air pistol out in the garage think i can get some ice cream for it???

Only if it's one of those big, gallon size containers.

[TXDMERC73]

who will give them a gun for 50.00, when they can sell it for a couple hundred? if the gun is worth more then 50.00 who on earth will give it to them ?unless its a rusted broken cracked gun sure no problem. a used high point is worth more then 50 bucks, ask em if they would give 50 bucks for this gun lol ...

[GoldWinger]

The gun "buy backs" that I've seen have required that the gun be functional.

I remember when one happened where I used to live, the news was all over it, interviewing the people. Many were elderly women who were wanting to get rid of the their late husband's old hunting rifles and war trophies. The pictures in the paper made me want to sob. Old Rugers, Lugers, M1s, 1911s, Mauser Broomhandles all destined for the melting pot.

[goofin]

Burglaries rise every March here in Harrisburg because the city runs the same yearly program. The scumbags head out of the city, break in and take the guns back to get cash.
what we really need is pawn shops here.

[cgbudde]

The gun "buy backs" that I've seen have required that the gun be functional.

I remember when one happened where I used to live, the news was all over it, interviewing the people. Many were elderly women who were wanting to get rid of the their late husband's old hunting rifles and war trophies. The pictures in the paper made me want to sob. Old Rugers, Lugers, M1s, 1911s, Mauser Broomhandles all destined for the melting pot.

You are assuming that anything of value really gets destroyed.

[d90king]

Oh shit, where do I sign up????