Palladin
NES Member
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/12/in_worcester_ex.html
December 12, 2009 03:01 PM
Rob Brogna
Guns collected today. Organizers say 85 guns were collected in the first three hours.
By Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondent
In a program that Worcester doctors and police hope will reduce injuries from gun accidents, residents of that city can turn in guns today and next Saturday in exchange for gift cards.
The UMass Memorial Medical Center, in conjunction with the Worcester Police, is holding its eighth annual Goods for Guns buyback program. The program allows gun owners to relinquish their guns at the police station in exchange for Wal-Mart gift cards of up to $75.
The hope is to limit the accidents in which weapons kept for protection accidentally injure family members or friends. Dr. Michael Hirsh, the program"s founder, said he sees the aftermath of such accidents in his role as chief of pediatric surgery and trauma care at the hospital.
"We're not saying that gun owners are bad people," he said. "We just know that many don't know how to store guns safely in their home. This gives them an opportunity to take care of the gun safely, and makes the community safer overall."
People who bring in guns receive a $25 gift card for a long rifle, $50 for a revolver, and $75 for weapons classified as semi-automatics. The Worcester district attorney will also relax gun possession laws for people who are carrying their weapons to the police station.
Hirsh said people relinquish their weapons for a variety of reasons, from new grandparents who don't want their grandchildren finding weapons, to people who receive guns as inheritance and don't know what to do with them.
"People seem generally glad to have an opportunity to do this,? Hirsh said.
Over the program"s eight years, the police have confiscated 1,620 guns and given out $87,000 worth of gift certificates. Hirsh said the guns turned in would be crushed and donated to artists who specialize in metal-working. He said the price of the drive is well worth it.
"There will always be evil in the world," he said. "But if you eliminate one gun, that's one less opportunity for a situation to escalate from a fistfight to a shootout at the OK Corral."
December 12, 2009 03:01 PM
Rob Brogna
Guns collected today. Organizers say 85 guns were collected in the first three hours.
By Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondent
In a program that Worcester doctors and police hope will reduce injuries from gun accidents, residents of that city can turn in guns today and next Saturday in exchange for gift cards.
The UMass Memorial Medical Center, in conjunction with the Worcester Police, is holding its eighth annual Goods for Guns buyback program. The program allows gun owners to relinquish their guns at the police station in exchange for Wal-Mart gift cards of up to $75.
The hope is to limit the accidents in which weapons kept for protection accidentally injure family members or friends. Dr. Michael Hirsh, the program"s founder, said he sees the aftermath of such accidents in his role as chief of pediatric surgery and trauma care at the hospital.
"We're not saying that gun owners are bad people," he said. "We just know that many don't know how to store guns safely in their home. This gives them an opportunity to take care of the gun safely, and makes the community safer overall."
People who bring in guns receive a $25 gift card for a long rifle, $50 for a revolver, and $75 for weapons classified as semi-automatics. The Worcester district attorney will also relax gun possession laws for people who are carrying their weapons to the police station.
Hirsh said people relinquish their weapons for a variety of reasons, from new grandparents who don't want their grandchildren finding weapons, to people who receive guns as inheritance and don't know what to do with them.
"People seem generally glad to have an opportunity to do this,? Hirsh said.
Over the program"s eight years, the police have confiscated 1,620 guns and given out $87,000 worth of gift certificates. Hirsh said the guns turned in would be crushed and donated to artists who specialize in metal-working. He said the price of the drive is well worth it.
"There will always be evil in the world," he said. "But if you eliminate one gun, that's one less opportunity for a situation to escalate from a fistfight to a shootout at the OK Corral."