Ask Officer Michelle – Question #547
Posted by amo1407
Hello Officer Michelle,
In the wake of the massacre in Connecticut, many police departments across the nation have hosted gun buyback programs. Is there any such program in the works for the city of Sacramento?
Dear amo1407,
What a tragedy for the children, the families, the community, the investigators, and the rescue personnel involved. I had the same hollow feeling after Connecticut that I did after 9/11.
We researched doing a gun buyback program, but discovered they are not successful at reducing gun related crime. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) has also concluded they don’t reduce gun crimes. The bottom line is criminals are not going to turn in their guns.
Our organization has also found that there were some abuses taking place such as a few gun dealers both in California and out of state were turning in “junk guns” so that they could reap the benefits of the cash and/or gift certificates offered for turning in a gun. There were also a lot of widowed wives turning in their husband’s guns. These are not the people we are necessarily concerned about. Thank you for your post.
Officer Michelle
