cuchulainn
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from the Portland Tribune
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=20706
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=20706
Gun turn-ins may be turned off
Ceasefire Oregon says people soon may be able to give their weapons to authorities year-round
By JIM REDDEN Issue date: Tue, Oct 7, 2003
The Tribune
Ceasefire Oregon's successful annual gun turn-in program may be coming to an end after taking in about 6,000 unwanted guns in the last 10 years -- including more than 350 at six sites in the Portland area last weekend.
Julie Wheeler, the nonprofit organization's volunteer organizer, said this year's event was postponed for five months because skyrocketing costs and the lousy economy made it hard to raise the $10,000 necessary to pay for it.
"The first nine turn-ins were held in May, the Saturday before Mother's Day," she said. "But because the economy is so bad this year, we had to wait until October."
Wheeler and other Ceasefire Oregon volunteers hope to replace the annual turn-ins with a year-round program that would encourage people to contact local law enforcement agencies directly. The final touches are being put on the program, which will be promoted through the group's Web site, www.ceasefireoregon.org.
She said there's no doubt that some form of gun collection program is worthwhile.
Many of the people who turned in guns Saturday for gift certificates would agree, including Judi Ellison, who handed over a 9 mm pistol she took away from several children in her neighborhood.
"I saw them playing with it, and I couldn't believe it. I took it away and hid it when they weren't looking," said Ellison, who brought the black semiautomatic to a collection point on Southeast 82nd Avenue. Cuchulainn inserts an editorial comment: Um, lady, if you find a gun on the street, the responsible thing would be to take it to the cops A) to get it back to its rightful owner and/or B) because it might have been used in a crime. You don't hang onto it and sell it like it is yours. It's not yours.
But such events do have their share of critics, including Kevin Starrett, director of the Oregon Firearms Federation, which lobbies against new firearm regulations proposed in the Oregon Legislature.
Starrett said he has no problem with people getting rid of unwanted guns, but he believes that Ceasefire Oregon has a larger agenda -- taking guns away from law-abiding citizens. As Starrett sees it, the group uses the event to push antigun propaganda.
"All the publicity they generate demonizes guns, as if you can just do away with them and live happily ever after," he said.
Starrett said Ceasefire Oregon has a political action committee that lobbies on hot-button gun control issues, such as extending the federal ban on assault rifles that is scheduled to expire next year. The group's September newsletter included an article in favor of extending the ban titled "Assault weapons threaten our safety."
Wheeler said Ceasefire Oregon does not advocate that all guns should be confiscated. "We are for responsible gun ownership," she said.
She is, however, quick to make it clear what she thinks about guns:
"A gun is like a rattlesnake. You can try to keep it in a cage, but sooner or later it's going to get out and hurt someone."
Volunteers overcome odds
The fact that such a debate is even taking place these days says something about the zeal of the organization and its volunteers. Although many groups across the nation were sponsoring gun turn-ins just a few years ago, almost all of them have stopped because they are expensive and time-consuming.
"Ceasefire Oregon is probably the only citizen organization in the country that is still sponsoring a regular event. The only thing that's keeping it alive here is the determination of the local volunteers," said Diana Madarieta, Western regional director of the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence.
But even devoted volunteers have been running into problems when raising money for the event. Ceasefire Oregon uses the donations to pay for the gift certificates provided by businesses, but there are other expenses.
For example, insurance for each site escalated this year when the organization's insurance company -- citing terrorism concerns -- decided to triple the cost of the policy at the last minute, Wheeler said.
But volunteers won't give up easily, sometimes because their crusades are personal.
Laura Grandin, for example, helped staff the Hillsboro turn-in site because her younger brother committed suicide with a family-owned gun more than 30 years ago.
"I'm not saying he wouldn't have killed himself if the gun wasn't available," she said from her home Friday. "But guns are so instantly lethal that they eliminate all other possibilities."
But Starrett believes that such examples are the exception to the weapons collected at the turn-ins. He said many of the guns that people swap for gift certificates are "junk," rusty pistols and old rifles held together with duct tape.
"They aren't getting guns that are going to be used in crimes," he said. "Bank robbers and gangbangers aren't swapping their guns for gift certificates."
Event volunteer John Canda said it's obvious that most criminals do not turn in their guns. Still, any gun can be stolen and used in a crime, he said.
"I see every gun we get as a potential crime gun," said Canda, executive director of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods.
Turn-in nets assault rifle
Every year, the event's organizers say, a few weapons that are clearly capable of inflicting great harm are turned in. In fact, the first firearm collected this year was an SKS assault rifle with a scope and high-capacity banana clip.
Beaverton police Sgt. Mike Janin said a Washington County resident brought it by his office Thursday morning after hearing about the event.
"He said he has a 13-year-old in the house and realized that he didn't want to have the rifle around anymore," Janin said.
Like the other guns, it was collected by police officers who checked it in and recorded its serial number. Stolen guns will be returned to owners if they can be found, and the rest will be melted down at a local smelter.
Despite Starrett's opposition, not every pro-gun advocate opposes the recall. One man, who would not give his full name, swapped two shotguns for gift certificates at Ceasefire Oregon's site at 4219 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Asked why he didn't want to be identified, the man said, half-joking, "I'm a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, and I don't want my friends hearing about this."
Contact Jim Redden at [email protected] .
© 2003 THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE
. "A gun is like a rattlesnake. You can try to keep it in a cage, but sooner or later its going to get out and hurt someone." ***, over? I've had a loaded .45 in a LifeJacket in the top drawer of my nightstand for the last six years, and nary a buzz. Like the Wildlife guy's comment about tigers being like loaded guns, the analogy is just wrong. Rattlers, like tigers, have a mind of their own, unlike guns, cars, or even that blender in my kitchen. I gotta tellya, this constant barrage of this **** by people who have irrational fears of things unknown is driving me NUTS! [/wildrant]
