Do you have an old hand gun lying around the house you don't need anymore? Would you give it over to the police in return for a $100 gift card? How about letting of that shotgun that has been accumulating dust ? Would you take a $50 gift card in exchange? Maybe you bought an assualt weapon hoping to tear up the town but there just hasn't been an opportunity to use it. Would you let it go for a $200 gift card? 
If you showed up at a recent "cash for guns" event at the Fresno Fairgrounds you could have joined hundreds of others who were willing to disarm. But you would have had to gotten up early to do it. According to Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, the event scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ran out of gift cards and because the line began to form at 7 a.m., the event began a half hour early.
It also ended earlier than planned because the police ran out of gift cards. Seventy-five people were given vouchers
In all, 447 weapons were collected and $35,000 in gift cards were given away. The gift cards were funded by private donations and money seized by police in drug-related cases.
Event sponsors believe a few of the “cashed-in” guns were stolen. A few have historic value and will be donated to museums, but most will be cut up.
Whenever I say gun ownership should be more tightly controlled—gun advocates react not with reason but rage. Gun lovers consistently tell me that my dislike of guns simply reflects stupidity and cowardice. They say, people have a right to defend themselves—and that I am not a gun lover is proof that I don't believe in self defense.
I do believe in self defense and I believe one of the best self-defense strategies is to take the offense in creative and non-violent ways. Like every other police department across the country the Fresno Police know that fewer guns in fewer hands is no panacea for gun violence. That said, fewer guns in fewer hands is a step in the right direction.
Three cheers for the Fresno Police Department. Why not encourage the police department in your town to city to take up the cause?
Comments
Cash for clunkers... cash for guns... gets both off the street.
So lets remove their only defense from the poor living in crime-ridden areas. (That and pawn shops turning in their garbage are about the only ones to take advantage of this.)
Luke 22:
35And He said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.
36Then said He unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Let me see if I can put this in a non raging way.
If guns are the problem, then why do the US have a lower violent crime rate then disarmed England? Did you know that England is the most violent country in Europe?
The violent crime rate in England is more than 2000 per 100'000
That's more than 2% of the population.
But we need not look over seas, Boston and Washington DC both have had gun ban in effect for many years. Take a look at there crime rate.
Let's keep in mind that there is a "Concealed Carry Revolution"
That has swept across this nation. It stated in the 80's and is still going strong. www.handgunlaw.us
With all these concealed guns in public we should be killing each other by the a much higher rate then we are.
Legal gun ownership lowers crime rate. More guns, less crime
"Whenever I say gun ownership should be more tightly controlled—gun advocates react not with reason but rage."
You are free to have your opinion that you don't like guns. I'm not sure what gun rights advocates you have spoken with, but most don't react with rage. If you would like to have a non-angry discussion with someone highly educated on the subject, regarding either/both legal and policy issues, I would be happy to engage in one with you. I won't yell, scream, or name call and will respond with only with reason, contrary to your articles statement. Let me know.
Did they return these guns to thier rightfull owners? I'd be willing to bet that most were stolen just so they could turn them in and get the money. Sounds like the police are running a legal fencing opperation.
People owning guns as a deterrent to crime is the epitome of "non-violent" self-defense. When was the last time you heard of somebody trying to shoot up a gun store or a gun show? Even the best police in the world can't be everywhere at once.
$35,000
Where I live that is a rookie officers salary, has to be at least 6 months in Fresno. Have a hard time convincing me taking a bunch of old rusted guns off the street did more to drop crime than officer training, new hires, or some other kind of personnel investment.
To your uninformed critics: I DID talk to the Fresno Police Department - firstly, to thank them. I am a survivor of a violent crime, held and raped at gunpoint, by a man with a licensed gun. I loathe guns, no matter the excuse for carrying one.
Secondly - I was curious as to what weapons were turned in. The police were amazed that there were an extraordinary amount of "street weapons" - AK47s, machine guns of all types, and very few "rusty clunkers".
And I find it interesting that there is such a profound dichotomy of thinking by right-wing gun toters: you seem to always align with policing no matter police behavior except when the police in any city will tell you that YES, guns are a problem.
It's amazing to me how many idjits think that GUNS are the problem, and not the PERSON doing the crime.
What idiot would trade a good gun for $200 gift card when it could be sold for $1,000 at the local pawn shop? These are junk guns noo matter how they try to spin it,
Sean said: "If you would like to have a non-angry discussion with someone highly educated on the subject, regarding either/both legal and policy issues, I would be happy to engage in one with you. I won't yell, scream, or name call and will respond with only with reason, contrary to your articles statement. Let me know."
Still not takers, eh? Not surprising.
There's never been a link between gun buybacks and a decrease in gun violence, ever. It's a waste of money.
The problems are obvious.
1. Most programs,(this includes the one above), do not pay close to market value, let alone the black market value. Invariably this leads to elderly people showing up with turn of the century top breaks because they don't know what else to do with them.
2. When you are allowed to turn in guns with complete anonymity, it is a convenient and risk free way to sell stolen guns.
3. There are approximately 250 million privately held firearms in the US. Taking away 700 of the least likely weapons to be used in crimes is a poor policy.
To Shen:
I'm sorry for your experience, but loathe your assailant, not the inanimate gun he was carrying. The gun can't think for itself and commit a crime. You might as well hate shoes since he was probably wearing them at the time of the assault.
I won't even get into the "street guns" comment but I can guarantee you that none of the weapons turned in were machine guns. The federal background checks needed for a citizen to buy a machine gun ensure that criminals don't get them through proper channels. The federal transfer fee alone is $200... which brings up the point about cost. If a criminal did somehow get a machine gun, he/she wouldn't give it up for a $200 gift certificate.
Shane: Wrong! There were machine guns and I have long ago forgiven the assailent. I only wish he, like so many others, didn't feel he needed a gun or to assault another to recognize his own power.
It is incredibly naive to think you need a federal background check to get machine guns. They are easily sold through the web, in inner cities and third world countries and are brought into this country daily (ask anyone here on the docks or the streets of Oakland or in any other major city).
In our community The Bloods and The Crips have machine guns. In Fresno, The Bloods and The Crips have machine guns. They certainly didn't go the federal form route!
AND, I was told directly by the Community Relations Officer, that YES, machine guns were in the haul.
It does happen that Community Relations Officers might, perhaps, might be doing a good job!
Any gun off the street is a good thing!
Shen, you said...
"It is incredibly naive to think you need a federal background check to get machine guns. They are easily sold through the web, in inner cities and third world countries and are brought into this country daily"
Your own reasoning hurts your argument. If criminals can get guns without background checks, why do we have them? Isn't the entire purpose of the check to ensure criminals don't get guns. If they are getting them anyway, that just means it is you and I who have to undergo a check, and the government doesn't have to worry about us because we are law-abiding citizens. If the goal of a law is ineffective, doesn't that make the law useless.
By your own reasoning, gun control won't work because the people who we don't want getting guns get them anyway. Do you not see your own contradiction? Do you see what I am saying?
It's amazing that you think this will keep the guns out of criminals hands or slow down violent acts in anyway. I'd guess not a lot of criminals showed up to get rid of their guns. “Taking the offensive in non-violent ways”. I bet a local thug is looking to brake into your house. Maybe you could write a quick article in hopes that they would read it and not steel everything you have including your family.
Name one jurisdiction, anyplace, that has achieved a reduction in firearms violence through gun buybacks. This is an example of wanting to be judged on good intentions rather than good results. Not a good plan in my book.
Why not sell all of the guns back to FFL holders who will then sell them to non-criminals? It will generate more cash to continue such buy-back programs. I don't understand the logic in destroying them.
"It is incredibly naive to think you need a federal background check to get machine guns. They are easily sold through the web, in inner cities and third world countries and are brought into this country daily"
A journalist tried for weeks to purchase a firearm through the web without going trough an FFL and a background check. He could not find a single seller that would not sell a weapon through a FFL with a background check. Don’t take my word for or his word or his either. Try it yourself, and good luck. You won’t find anyone that will sell you a firearm through the web.
Also, look at the photograph. Most of the weapons you see are rifles which are used in only three percent of the murders in this country. So, an elderly woman turns in her deceased husband’s bolt action hunting rifle that’s worth from $600 to $3,000, and she gets a $50 gift card. Then a perfectly good and valuable firearm is destroyed, and an elderly woman is cheated out of hundreds of dollars. (More)
They say they are taking guns off the street, but they are only taking guns out closets and attics of lawful citizens. Is anyone so naive to believe that criminals are turning in their guns? These programs are a
waste of time and money.
Seems like every large urban area has at least one gun buy back a year... (how can they/ government buy back something it never owned in the first place?)
Assuming Guns are bad, can we also assume illegal drugs are worse or at least just as bad?
when was the last time you saw a Heroin and Crack buy back?
A handgun cost a lot more then a hundred bucks. What a waste.
Actually, not all handguns cost that much; Those made by Hi-Point in particular are extremely cheap. So cheap in fact, that I briefly considered purchasing one I saw for sale recently on the premise that the price it was being offered at, along with the ammo included, would work out to a reasonable price for a a good amount of target ammo depending on how much I could get for the POS gun at a buyback.
Hi-Point + 500 round of 9mm for 200 bucks before 25 for transfer. Figured if I could get more than 130 bucks for the pistol from some kind of buyback program I might actually come out ahead.
Not surprisingly, gun shops that end up with used Hi-Point pistols will often offload them at police gun buy-backs, as they get more that way than by selling them in their shops...
But yes, good handguns typically cost upwards of 400, and that's often for a very well used carry piece...
This is retarded! No way would I sell a gun for $100! Besides, do you think that the criminals and murderers participated in this "program"? I doubt it but, even if they did cash in their stolen weapons, I assure you that they already have another one in hand in preparatino for their next violent crime. Come try and rob me Mr. Criminal - I am waiting for you with my Kimber .45 in hand!!
Wow! What stupid comments here! Anyone who thinks you can buy a machine gun through the internet (or anywhere else) with ease and/or with no background check is a total MORON! There is no way in hell you can buy a machine gun without a ton of background checks, licensing/permits and money! What idiotic propaganda!
Ed, listen to Shen, another genius liberal. True, he makes up terms, like a "licensed gun", whatever that is. But, like Robert, he's smart enough to "loathe guns" and to thank the Fresno police for getting all these bad guns "off the streets". He's also an expert on "machine guns", though he forgot that a real live Class III machine gun is worth thousands of dollars minmum even on the black market and will cost an unlicensed owner about ten years in the Federal slammer, if caught. I'm sure what happened is that the criminals in posession of these guns suddenly felt remorse and turned them in because they didn't wish to break the law - plus they got a nice $100 dollar gift card. If only we all could see things so clearly, we could get rid of all these bad guns, and Shen would feel soooo much better!!
Willbill - Never callout a machine gun expert like Shen on circular reasoning. You leave out what I call the "X" factor in Shen's thought processes. The "X" factor dictates that the criminals, after buying all the cheap machine guns they can get on the internet and down on the docks in Oakland, will be drawn inexorably to the lure of a $200 gift card and a CLEAN CONSCIENCE for turning in these "street weapons". I know, you're sceptically weighing the clear profit motive here, but I have unbounded faith in the motives of these criminals. Their true core character and inner goodness will ultimately ensure the future success of these brilliantly orchestrated buyback programs - to the utter relief of "street weapons" experts like Shen.
Shen, Shane, Sean, shall we shoot the ships we surely shouldn't shake? In short, can't we all just all stop this silly squabbing about machine guns?I say just try to be nice.If we can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all. Shazam!!
Why is it leftists/commucrats/collectivists are always on about "reduce, reuse, recycle" - except when it applies to guns?
How can they ignore all the data which proves - beyond question - that "more guns = less crime"?!
How can they ignore the history which proves the racist roots of gun-control? (see "No Guns for Negroes" @ jpfo dot org!)
Buybacks get junk, or old-folks' guns who don't know what to do with them.
I've made over $2k picking up brand-new "starter-pistols" for $25 then carrying them down the street to the "buyback" and handing them in - still in their boxes - for $100 "visa" cards which I then used to buy myself REAL GUNS!
BONUS!
Don't feel. THINK!
What criminal is going to hand over a gun worth $500+ on the street in exchange for $100 or less?
The *ONLY* one who might is one who is afraid of being caught with a "TOO-HOT" gun, so he takes advantage of "no questions asked" to get rid of it!
Ergo, police are:
1) wasting money on broken/unusable guns, or
2) getting the guns of older, law-abiding but ignorant folk, or
3) helping the WORST sort of criminal dispose of a "too hot" gun.
How does this reduce crime?
Pure idiocy - but then that's what we expect from those who FEEL, instead of THINK!
"...fewer guns in fewer hands is a step in the right direction..."
What direction?
The one where the only "hands" with guns are CRIMINALS?! If so, That Place Where Great Britain Used To Be must be your idea of PARADISE!
Maybe you mean where only the .Gov's agents are armed? Warsaw in 1945 would have been paradise for you? REALLY?
Perhaps you mean some magical land where there are no guns, and nobody with the basic skills to make one? Here, young/strong can do anything they please to everyone! Sound good?
*YOU* suffer from HOPLOPHOBIA - you have an irrational fear of guns!
Guns protect an 80-pound woman against a 300# linebacker - or a whole gang of them, the old from the young, and all of us from tyranny!
Let's control CRIMINALS - and leave law-abiding people - and their guns - ALONE!
"...I believe one of the best self-defense strategies is to take the offense in creative and non-violent ways..."
It's 3AM. A drug-addicted psychopath broke in your house, to rape and murder your wife.
Oops. Sorry.
It's 3AM. A drug-addicted psychopath broke in your house, to rape and murder your "life-partner."
What are you going to do? Sing him some show-tunes?
Clearly, you've never met an actual predator, of ANY species.
Predators are like wolves.
Sadly, *YOU* are a sheep.
Many of us - myself included - are sheepdogs. We've chosen to use our fangs and claws for good - because we understand that there are wolves in the world. WOLVES are the problem - not Fangs or claws.
"...I believe one of the best self-defense strategies is to take the offense in creative and non-violent ways..."
It's 3AM. A drug-addicted psychopath broke in your house, to rape and murder your wife.
Oops. Sorry.
It's 3AM. A drug-addicted psychopath broke in your house, to rape and murder your "life-partner."
What are you going to do? Sing him some show-tunes?
Clearly, you've never met an actual predator, of ANY species.
Predators are like wolves.
Sadly, *YOU* are a sheep.
Many of us - myself included - are sheepdogs. We've chosen to use our fangs and claws for good - because we understand that there are wolves in the world. WOLVES are the problem - not Fangs or claws.
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