Gun buybacks not effective for curbing violence

[Jgarrick]

Last edited Wed Apr 30, 2014, 12:46 PM - Edit history (3)

http://www.abc2news.com/news/local-news/investigations/gun-buybacks-not-effective-in-curbing-violence

...And it's unlikely some of the weapons we saw could muster the mettle to even help commit a crime. Our data crunching turned up prop guns, starter pistols and even antique black powder guns among the collection.

Retired federal agent and current University of Maryland criminology professor Thomas Mauriello wasn’t shocked by our findings. "Real criminals, a firearm is a tool of their trade, so they're not giving up their weapons for gift cards or money," Mauriello said.

But that's what these events often offer. In Prince George's County last December, gift cards worth up to $150 were given out. In total $10,000 worth of cards was handed out in exchange for guns, with half of the cost funded by a county grant.

And while some buybacks, like the one held in Baltimore City, didn't use public funds for the firearms, tax dollars were still at work at each and every one. That’s because police agencies are the partner, with police officers collecting and categorizing the weapons. “That's money and effort that could be spent on interventions we know are more effective in reducing rates of street crime and violence overall," Vernick said.

(Excerpt, entire article at link)

Surprisingly skeptical (for a local tv station) article on gun "buybacks".

Pet peeve: how can it be a "buyback" when the people who get the gun didn't own it previous to the event in question?

[oneshooter]

1. BUT! BUT! It's for the CHILDREN!!!!! n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

2. Weird.

It's almost as if criminals aren't keen on being responsible citizens.

[krispos42]

3. Was this from the Rick Romano Institute for the Blindingly Obvious?

N/t

[Lizzie Poppet]

4. But they ARE a great way to turn $100 worth of junk guns into $600.

[Squinch]

5. The local church's gun buyback didn't eliminate gun crime,

and neither did a gun buyback of 66 guns in Prince George's county, so you have decided that gun buybacks don't work.

Yeah. You and science. Made for each other.

[Jgarrick]

6. When did I assert that "buybacks" don't work because they fail to eliminate all local crime?

Yeah. You and reading. Made for each other.

[alp227]

8. According to the article,

ABC2 Investigators wanted to find out. We filed Public Information Act requests with the police departments that took custody of the guns turned in and obtained lists of every weapon purchased in any area buyback held since 2011.

After obtaining the list of weapons, we broke down the collection of more than 1,100 guns into categories by type, make and caliber. We used the data to build our own inventory of what was surrendered to the long arm of the law and then took our findings to an expert, Jon Vernick with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.

"When we talk about America's gun homicide problem, it's a handgun problem," Vernick said.

But handguns are generally not what we found in those buyback events. In the nearly 1,000 guns we found turned in during the Baltimore and Howard County buybacks, only 15 percent were pistols, the weapon used overwhelmingly in city homicides. Those buybacks also turned up nearly 400 revolvers and more than 300 rifles and shotguns.

"It's not as though these weapons pose no risk, either on the street or in homes,” Vernick told us, “They do. But when you compare risk, it's the higher caliber weapons that tend to be disproportionately seen in the crimes that are plaguing our streets."

Also, the user who posted this is flagged for review, due to a bunch of hidden posts on this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024889415

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. re: "...how can it be a "buyback"..."

Easy: the same way gun shows have loopholes.

[ileus]

9. But they make us feel better....society wins when we feel good.

Plus we get junky ravens and hipoints out of the closets.