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From Alphecca - http://www.alphecca.com/?p=423 linking to http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/open_ac ... 229664.php
From Alphecca - http://www.alphecca.com/?p=423 linking to http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/open_ac ... 229664.php
Gun buy-back day fruitful, chief says
Mon, Sep 17, 2007
CODY TRAWICK
The Brunswick News
The gun in the hand of Glynn County Deputy Sheriff Michael Johnson was hardly as long as his forearm.
"Now what you have here is a sawed-off, 12-gauge shotgun," he said, snapping the weapon's foldable stock into place. "A very good street sweeper. You can conceal this gun and take out a room full of people with one shot." (Uh, maybe in the movies. It looks like a single shot to me - how terrifying!)
And that could conceivably have been the case had the Brunswick Police Department not held its gun buy-back program in conjunction with the Anguilla Freedom Project at Howard Coffin Park in Brunswick Saturday.
"The man who brought this gun in said he was just happy to get rid of it," said Brunswick Police Chief Edna Johnson. "He said he was planning to sell it to somebody else but decided to bring it in today." (probably could only get a $50 offer)
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Brunswick police Sgt. Keith Jenkins, right, displays the nine guns bought Saturday during the gun buy-back program at Howard Coffin Park. Brunswick Police Chief Edna Johnson, from left, Cathy Browning with the Anguilla Freedom Project, City Commissioner James Brooks and Michael Johnson with the Anguilla Freedom Project look on. (Bobby Haven/The Brunswick News)
Of the nine guns sold during the buy-back and now in possession of the Brunswick Police Department, the shotgun was certainly the prize. It's one less killing machine off the street, Chief Johnson said. (Thanks but I'd rather have the associated human off the street, not the gun)
"That's the idea behind this program," she said. "It's 'no questions asked.' It's worth an entire day to have weapons such as this shotgun off of the street."
Chief Johnson's expectations weren't the only ones exceeded Saturday.
"It's all part of our goal to make this community safer, more livable again," said Vivian Johnson, deputy of the Anguilla Freedom Project. "Brunswick used to be that way, and we know that it can be again."
The idea developed after Rolanda Roberts, 13, was gunned down on Q Street in June. She was the first teen to be shot to death in the streets this summer. The second was Aaron Brennon, 15, who was shot and killed in August while standing in the 100 block of Stafford Avenue.
The two teens are among 11 homicides in the area this year â€" enough to prompt the gun-buy program. (Gee, that should clear up the crime problem eh!)
"Anytime you can work in cooperation with the community and be successful, you've really accomplished something," Vivian Roberts said. "When you're able to appeal to members of the community and get even one of these weapons out of the wrong hands, you're contributing to the prevention of more needless killing."
Other weapons purchased by the police department Saturday included several revolvers and semi-automatic handguns.
Sheriff Deputy Michael Johnson pulled one particularly curious firearm from the bag.
"This is a Reuger 9mm," he said, taking the ammunition clip that was with the gun out of the bag. "But this is the 75-round clip that came with it."
He snapped the clip into the body of the gun, completing what was already a sinister appearance.
"This gun had completely fresh, (what do stale bullets look like??) hollow-point rounds when it was brought in," he said. "So it hadn't gone very long without being used. It doesn't take too much work to make a weapon like this fully automatic." (BWAHAHAHAHA!!!)
Sgt. Keith Jenkins of the Brunswick Police Department said it further emphasized the importance of the gun buy-back program.
"You don't want these weapons in the possession of the wrong person, whether it's a robber, drug dealer or otherwise," he said. "These people who have come in today were able to get rid of these weapons, with no questions asked. There's no telling where they would have ended up if they hadn't been willing to sell them to us."
The Brunswick Police Department paid $50, no questions asked, for most of the handguns. Weapons such as the sawed-off shotgun fetched $100. (I wonder what a crack rock goes for nowadays?) Funds for the sale were generated from the police seizure fund.
All in all, Saturday proved to be fruitful, Chief Johnson said.
"It's been a very successful first day for the program," she said. "We're definitely looking forward to conducting future gun buy-backs, hoping that within the next six months we'll be able to do another one."
The backgrounds of people selling guns to the city were as diverse as the firearms themselves. (Yes! Gotta toss in a plug for diversity!)
"I think the youngest person was about 19," Vivian Johnson said. "We had an equal number of black and white people, and people of all ages. And I think that that's excellent. While this is a problem that (encompasses) the entire community, we're trying to appeal to our young people."
Chief Johnson agreed.
"The key to this whole thing is not any one improvement or idea," she said. "It's about involvement and cooperation across the community. Just as it's not any one person's problem, this problem belongs to all of us. And it's going to take all of us working together to bring about a positive change."
