Gun Buybacks After Newtown: It's a Race to Schedule Them [View all]

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http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/12/gun-buybacks-after-newtown-its-race-schedule-them/4245/



Bob Seligman of San Diego is a retired 22-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. He believes that guns can be dangerous but only in the wrong hands. He’s willing to admit that he’s not sure what the solution is to gun violence in America.

Still, like hundreds of other San Diego County residents, he lined up on a clear, bright Friday morning to hand his weapons over to San Diego County Sheriff’s officials.

Seligman could be the poster boy for record-setting gun buybacks that have sprung up across the country since the December 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The rifle and 20-gauge shotgun he turned in Friday morning had been in his collection for years. He wasn’t using them anymore and he didn’t plan to. If he was going to get something out of it – those who forfeited weapons received gifts cards – why not turn them in?

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department sees dozens of people like Seligman each year during its annual gun buyback. This year, they came with a total of more than 360 hunting rifles, shotguns, antique weapons they’d forgotten they had, and in some cases, automatic weapons like the two Uzi-style handguns and TEC-9 that were turned in Friday before 10 a.m.