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Sunday, February 06, 1994     Page: OUTDOORS QUICK WORDS: GUNS AND
GROCERIES

Guns and groceries
   
Beginning Tuesday, you could cash in your guns for groceries in six Bucks
    County townsA program that’s expected to last 90 days allows gun owners to
trade firearms for $25 cash vouchers, free groceries or credit on a utility
bill.
   
The program, called Operation Safe Neighborhood, was created by
Representative Thomas Corrigan.
   
Funded by private donations, the goal of Operation Safe Neighborhood is to
get guns out of private homes, off the streets and into the police station
were I assume they are thought to belong.
   
Cops in the Philadelphia suburbs of Tullytown, Bristol Borough, Bristol
Township, Morrisville, Falls Township and Trevrose will accept firearms at
their barracks,
   
If gun owners don’t want to go through the trouble of driving to the police
stations, the cops will make a little road trip and pick up the guns.
   
“Every one we collect, we can guarantee that that weapon will never be used
to kill a police officer or a store clerk or a night attendant at a gas
station,” Corrigan is reported as saying in an Associated Press story.
   
Interesting.
   
t certainly has become ethically and politically correct to rally for the
strict control of firearms.
   
I suspect that careers can be made it.
   
No doubt Corrigan’s motives are commendable. No doubt Corrigan really
believes that such programs will deter crime and save lives.
   
The only problem is that those who willingly turn in firearms to the police
are likely to be law abiding citizens.
   
These same people are the ones who would most likely not commit a crime in
the first place.
   
Think about it: How many dope dealers and small-time hoods are going to
cash in on the $25 kitty?
   
How many scar-faced thugs deeply involved in organized crime are likely to
march into the police station and hand over their sidearm?
   
Not many.
   
These anti-firearm scare tactics frighten me because they are no more than
a band-aid that mask more serious social problems.
   
They make the assumption that guns have an evil, life-threatening
personality all their very own. They take away the human responsibility of gun
ownership by insisting that firearms are inherently evil and responsible for
crime.
   
o matter that thousands of legitimate gun owners use firearms responsibly
for target shooting, hunting and even self-defense.
   
No matter that some firearm owners appreciate guns the same way car buffs
admire a fine automobile.
   
Take your gun to the police.
   
Your neighborhood will instantly become safer.
   
Crime statistics will plummet.
   
Right.
   
Corrigan claims he can ensure that any weapons turned in to the cops will
never be used in a crime against police officers, store clerks or gas station
attendants.
   
No doubt that’s true, as the guns will probably be melted down.
   
They might even be made into a statue, as was the case in a New York town
with a similar program.
   
But what Corrigan doesn’t admit is that these guns will never deter a
prowler intent on committing a crime.
   
They will never protect a family from a crazed intruder.
   
They will never be used to hold a criminal at bay until the police arrive.
   
And they will never be used for sporting purposes.
   
Fear and ignorance will see to that.
   
No thanks, Representative Corrigan. I’ll hang on to my guns, if you don’t
mind.
   
George Smith is The Times Leader outdoors editor.