Drizzt
Member
City police could unwittingly destroy millions of dollars in historically valuable firearms during next month’s gun amnesty, worries the head of the National Firearms Association.
David Tomlinson urged gun owners to look into whether their unwanted firearms could be valuable or historically important before turning them over to police.
“It can be a great loss of inheritance value for people.”
Edmonton Police Service gang unit members are now finalizing the details of the gun amnesty – the brainchild of Police Chief Mike Boyd – which is slated for early June.
Officers will go from door to door collecting the firearms.
The guns will go through testing to find out whether they’ve been involved in criminal activity, and then destroyed – which is what concerns Tomlinson.
“Frequently during these lovely gun-gathering exercises they destroy firearms that are historically important and historically valuable,” he said.
In March, an outcry ensued in Hamilton, Ont. after a reporter noted that a rare musket dating back to the 1790s was among the firearms collected during a month-long amnesty in that city.
Gun historians said the “Brown Bess” was used in Canada by British troops in the War of 1812 and by the Canadian militia in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.
Hamilton police originally said they would melt the gun down with the rest of the 1,253 guns seized, but later decided to donate the musket to a museum after speaking to the person who turned it in.
EPS spokesman Jeff Wuite said while guns taken in during the amnesty may be historically valuable, they’re also “potentially lethal” and will be destroyed.
“These are unwanted weapons and people that actually have rightful ownership of them don’t want them anymore.”
Police say the goal is to prevent the weapons from getting into the hands of criminals during burglaries.
According to police statistics, most people murdered in Edmonton are not killed by guns.
In 2005, 39% of fatal assaults and homicides were the result of stabbing and 26% were the result of beating.
Shootings accounted for 32% of fatal assaults and homicides, a percentage that was unchanged from 2004.
Statistics on the total amount of gun-related crime were not available.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/05/05/1566252.html
David Tomlinson urged gun owners to look into whether their unwanted firearms could be valuable or historically important before turning them over to police.
“It can be a great loss of inheritance value for people.”
Edmonton Police Service gang unit members are now finalizing the details of the gun amnesty – the brainchild of Police Chief Mike Boyd – which is slated for early June.
Officers will go from door to door collecting the firearms.
The guns will go through testing to find out whether they’ve been involved in criminal activity, and then destroyed – which is what concerns Tomlinson.
“Frequently during these lovely gun-gathering exercises they destroy firearms that are historically important and historically valuable,” he said.
In March, an outcry ensued in Hamilton, Ont. after a reporter noted that a rare musket dating back to the 1790s was among the firearms collected during a month-long amnesty in that city.
Gun historians said the “Brown Bess” was used in Canada by British troops in the War of 1812 and by the Canadian militia in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.
Hamilton police originally said they would melt the gun down with the rest of the 1,253 guns seized, but later decided to donate the musket to a museum after speaking to the person who turned it in.
EPS spokesman Jeff Wuite said while guns taken in during the amnesty may be historically valuable, they’re also “potentially lethal” and will be destroyed.
“These are unwanted weapons and people that actually have rightful ownership of them don’t want them anymore.”
Police say the goal is to prevent the weapons from getting into the hands of criminals during burglaries.
According to police statistics, most people murdered in Edmonton are not killed by guns.
In 2005, 39% of fatal assaults and homicides were the result of stabbing and 26% were the result of beating.
Shootings accounted for 32% of fatal assaults and homicides, a percentage that was unchanged from 2004.
Statistics on the total amount of gun-related crime were not available.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/05/05/1566252.html
