{"id":11459,"date":"2010-06-18T12:00:05","date_gmt":"2010-06-18T17:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=11459"},"modified":"2010-06-17T13:50:22","modified_gmt":"2010-06-17T18:50:22","slug":"money-wasted-while-you-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=11459","title":{"rendered":"Money Wasted While You Wait"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a “gun buyback” going on in Minneapolis and Saint Paul even as we speak:<\/p>\n

Shiloh Temple International Ministries 1201 W. Broadway Mpls., MN.
\nContact: Deseria G. [phone number redacted]
\nGospel Temple COGIC 247 Grotto Street N. St. Paul, MN.
\nDanny G. @ [phone number redacted]<\/p>\n

You will receive $50.00 gift card for revolvers.
\nYou will receive $100.00 gift card for semi-automatics.
\nNO QUESTIONS ASKED!!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I took the liberty of calling Deseria G, the contact in Minneapolis.\u00a0 After identifying myself as Mitch Berg, with the Northern Alliance Radio Network and a howling-mad conservative, I asked first where the money came from.<\/p>\n

“Bake sales, events at basketball games and community events”, she started.\u00a0 “Donations from the Minneapolis Police Department…”<\/p>\n

Huh?\u00a0 The perennially cash-strapped MPD is ponying up for a program as demonstrably useless <\/a>as a gun buy-back?<\/p>\n

“…and from [an inner city healthcare non-profit] – because this is a public health issue…”<\/p>\n

I didn’t feel like arguing; she seemed like a pleasant enough person, highly motivated for her mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I had to ask:\u00a0 “So it’s your position that these gun buy-backs actually reduce crime?”<\/p>\n

“It’s aimed mainly at our youth, the ones who are doing the crimes”.<\/p>\n

I thought about following up “do you honestly think the gang-bangers are going to trade their gats in for gift certificates?\u00a0\u00a0 Do you think you’re going to get anything other than guns cleaned out of attics, non-functioning relics, and pieces stolen from peoples’ parents or neighbors?”, but I wished her a good day and thanked her for her time.<\/p>\n

Andrew Rothman writes, by the way, to note that the only reason the buy-back is legal is the “Gun-Show Loophole”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that brought on another question; the publicity flyer notes the rules for the exchange:<\/p>\n

Rules of engagement:
\nA. gun must be transported to either site in clear see threw freezer Bag.
\nB. gun must be separated from ammunition.
\nC. flyer should be on your person or in freezer bag. That is your pass to transport gun to site.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Erm, I’m wondering if the cops are strictly down with that?\u00a0 A flyer <\/em>gives people a de facto <\/em>carry permit for twelve hours?\u00a0 Seems dodgy to me, but then what do I know?<\/p>\n

C’moooon, McDonald!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a “gun buyback” going on in Minneapolis and Saint Paul even as we speak: Shiloh Temple International Ministries 1201 W. Broadway Mpls., MN. Contact: Deseria G. [phone number redacted] Gospel Temple COGIC 247 Grotto Street N. St. Paul, MN. Danny G. @ [phone number redacted] You will receive $50.00 gift card for revolvers. You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-victim-disarmament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11459"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11461,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11459\/revisions\/11461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}