Gun buyback aims to save lives

Pinkie M. Whitfield
Executive Editor

The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives’ North Florida Chapter (NOBLE) wants your gun. They are even willing to pay you for it to keep it from falling into the hands of a juvenile or worse, being used to commit a violent crime.

“We have seen a spike in gun violence over the past year, primarily with African-American males being both the perpetrators and the victims.” said Captain Glenn Sapp of the Tallahassee Police Department and vice president of the North Florida NOBLE chapter. The group has teamed up with the Tallahassee Police Department, Leon County Sheriff’s Office, police from Florida State and Florida A&M universities, and several other community organizations to help make Tallahassee and Leon County safer. Gun owners are being asked to turn in their guns at the “Bury A Gun, Not A Loved One” gun buy back event, Saturday, Aug. 7 at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 501 W. Orange Ave.

“We felt that we needed to take some sort of action and attempt to partner with the community to make a statement saying, enough is enough,” Sapp said. According to a city of Tallahassee press release, gun owners will receive a $50 gift card for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and a $75 gift card for assault rifles. Persons who give up their guns will be given a reprieve.

In a new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report, more than 18,000 guns were either recovered in or traced to the state of Florida in 2009, according to the Bureau’s Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information. Of those reclaimed in Florida by ATF, 721 guns had been used in a homicide and 1,017 in an aggravated assault. In the latest Uniform Crime Report, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that 1,138 juveniles in Leon County were arrested for criminal offenses in 2009. Of those arrested, eight were arrested for murder and 365 were involved in an aggravated assault.

Three years ago Gov. Charlie Crist appointed then Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan and current Department of Corrections Secretary Walt Mc- Neil to lead a “Blueprint Commission” to examine the state’s juvenile justice system. One of the commission’s findings was that African-American youths comprise 51 percent of the state’s juvenile justice prison population.

“Young people between the ages of 14 and 25 are at the highest risk for using illegal guns,” former ATF acting director Michael Sullivan said in a speech at the National Project Safe Neighborhood Conference. Sullivan, a Clinton administration appointee, said “guns are about five times more likely to be used in a murder than any other weapon.”

Gun buy back programs have been used as a tactic to keep neighborhoods safer and prevent the escalation of violent crimes by juveniles for more than 20 years. While these programs have been touted for their success in keeping guns off the streets, experts from the National Institute of Justice and the University of Wisconsin’s Medical College have reported that only a small percentage of firearms reclaimed in gun buy back programs can be traced to violent crimes, primarily because those who commit homicides or other gun crimes do not turn in their weapons.

“There are a lot of critics who say that buybacks are not effective, I say that we might not be able to quantify the effectiveness of prayer, but if you ask most people they will tell you that it works,” said Sapp who is a 23-year veteran of the Tallahassee Police Department. NOBLE and local law enforcement agencies want lawbreakers to know that “gun crimes will not be tolerated in our community.” Guns turned in at the “Bury A Gun, Not A Loved One” buy back event will be examined by police and given back to their owners if police determine that the guns were stolen. The remaining weapons will be extinguished.