"At least two guns arrived at the big buyback in Victoria's Secret shopping bags.
"Annie Oakley," said an investigator who worked on the one-day program run by the Brooklyn district attorney's office and the NYPD at six borough churches on Saturday.
Three more handguns were brought in by a man who arrived with his wife. The investigators figured that was the whole family cache, but the wife then produced a pistol of her own.
"I have my own gun!" she proclaimed.
Among the 12 assault weapons turned in were two Intra-Tec 9-mm., known on the street as Tec-9s. A senior police commander imagined aloud a bad guy discovering that somebody in the household had decided to make a quick $200.
"Somebody's going to look under the mattress and say, 'Where's my Tec-9? I know I put it there,'" the commander said.
All told, 660 guns were turned in during six hours, a startling number meriting cheers, but also imparting a chill.
"It's remarkable, but it's also worrisome as an indication of what's out there," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "The city is awash in guns."
Kelly noted that the NYPD has a long-standing program offering a $100 bounty for each gun brought into a stationhouse, but had only taken in 4,600 guns in six years.
The six Brooklyn churches brought in an average of more than 100 guns an hour.
"Responding to a higher power," Kelly said with a smile.
Kelly was speaking along with Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes at a podium set behind big tables that had room only for a third of the guns.
The weapons on display included the two Tec-9s as well as two Glock automatics. These guns are particular favorites of crooks and would sell on the street for hundreds more than the $200 bounty offered in the buyback program, which suggests that more than money was involved in turning them in."
"Annie Oakley." "Responding to a higher power." The hits just keep on comin' as they poke fun at mere civilians thinking they're special enough to have guns of their very own.
And of course more than money was involved. Getting caught with an "illegal" gun in NYC means hard time...unless you're a crook, then there's plenty of help on the way to prove you were just an innocent lad gone bad...so dropping off your stolen property for two C-notes is far less hassle than dealing with the backstreet pawn brokers who'll offer you chump change.
Pictured: An old shot of NY Senator Charles Schumer making believe he can take care of himself.
PS: Don't tell them that GLOCKS won't make quite as many wire coathangers as a Tec-9.
No comments:
Post a Comment