Despite the fact that gun turn-ins, often wrongly called “buybacks,” have never proven to have any effect on violent crime, Los Angeles officials continue to brag about their program.
The Los Angeles Times on Friday quoted L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's boasts about the 800 guns “taken off the street.” Yet the Times accidentally revealed the truth in its feature about the turn-in: “Some of the guns had gathered dust for years or even decades before their owners handed them over May 13 in return for a $100 or $200 Target gift card.”
Of course, guns that had gathered dust for decades probably weren't destined for criminal hands. And Mayor Garcetti’s statement that “each of those guns represents one less opportunity to take a life or to lose a life” ignores that fact that some of those guns just might have been used to save a life.
You see, Mr. Mayor: Not all guns are used for bad, regardless of how you look at them.
