Coalition to Stop Gun Violence buys 239 Weapons

I’ve never liked gun buybacks, I hate them even more when they’re organized by the enemy:

Santa Barbara’s first gun buyback initiative collected 239 unwanted guns, police said Saturday.

The Coalition Against Gun Violence event let residents turn in guns anonymously and gave out gift cards as incentives, organizers say. More than $23,000 in gift cards were handed out, they said.

On Saturday, Sgt. Riley Harwood said, people turned in 108 handguns, 84 rifles, 41 shotguns and eight “assault” weapons.

This was the first event of its kind for Santa Barbara but authorities say unwanted weapons can be turned in at any local police department.

Organizers said gun buyback events like this one focus on preventing accidental gun deaths and the safety of children.

At a news conference last week, coalition member Toni Wellen said California law requires gun owners with children in the home to keep guns unloaded and locked safely away from ammunition.

Student leaders at UC Santa Barbara also led efforts to raise money for the gun buyback program, following last month’s mass murder in Isla Vista. The rampage left seven dead, including four killed by gunshots.
Source: http://www.noozhawk.com/article/santa_barbara_gun_buyback_20140614

So here’s a question for the gun controllers, what if some of those weapons were owned by criminals? You’re basically helping them get rid of guns used in crimes. But don’t take it from me, take it from Police Magazine:

What you usually see in any gun buyback program is elderly people turning in old junk guns from some closet or garage where they have sat gathering dust for many years. But sometimes the buyback haul includes stolen guns that might connect the person turning them in with murders or other gun violence that some overworked detective is trying to solve. And because the gun buyback is conducted anonymously with “no questions asked,” the chain of evidence and its links to these unsolved crimes are cut off. These cases are bound for the cold case file.
Source: http://www.policemag.com/blog/gangs/story/2013/12/the-fallacy-of-gun-buyback-programs.aspx

Perhaps the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence should be known as the Coalition to Enable Gun Violence or the Coalition to Help Gun Criminals.