Sheriff's East L.A. station holding gun buyback today (funded by forfeiture $$$) [View all]

[petronius]

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's East Los Angeles station will host a gun buyback program today, officials said.

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Residents can anonymously exchange their weapons for gift cards redeemable at Target stores or Ralphs supermarkets, officials said.

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The sheriff's station is prepared to hand out up to $35,000 in gift cards, while supplies last. The department used money from funds collected through the confiscation or forfeiture of narcotics-related assets.

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...The weapons are destroyed.

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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sheriffs-east-la-station-to-hold-gun-buy-back-program-today-20130615,0,2682314.story

This is the first time I've noticed mention of where the money comes from - I always assumed it was donated by gun control groups; I'm less sanguine about the use of 'public' funds for this, as I really don't think it's the most effective expenditure in terms of advancing public safety/health. On the other hand, it seems like a lot of this narcotics-related money gets wasted on overly-militarized and unnecessary equipment (not to mention the potential for abuse in the whole confiscation process), so at least this batch is going back to the community. I would rather that it just be cash, though, and not directed to specific companies.

As for destroying the firearms, that seems like a misguided (by gun-control thinking) use of public funds - if they still have value, they should be sold and the money used efficiently...