City To Try Gun Buyback Again This Weekend

By Kevin Robinson in News on Jul 23, 2008 3:30PM

Mayor Daley announced that the city will try to repeat its successful gun buyback campaign this Saturday, with citizens bringing firearms into 25 participating churches between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in exchange for a $100 prepaid MasterCard. BB, replica, and air guns will also be accepted in exchange for $10 prepaid cards. But the programs effectiveness, which brought in a record 6,700 guns last year (Daley and Chief of Police Jody Weis hope to double that number this year), and the city's ability to finance it is being called into question this year. That's because corporate sponsors, who have increasingly been asked to finance a number of high-price Daley initiatives, aren't handing over the loot quick enough.

What's more, Dr. Carl Bell, president and CEO of the Community Mental Health Council and Foundation, told the city council that the guns being turned in "don’t work in the first damn place." Daley disagreed with that assessment: "If someone takes that gun and fires at you, are you willing to take that chance? Not many people are...So, don't ever think that the guns turned in don't work because there wouldn't be anyone left in your company. We're gonna go over there and find out whether they work." He added, "now maybe you're talking about something in the Civil War, but still, that can work too."

Photo by JoeM500