It looks like the County (my the County) officials are busy allocating public funds to cover the costs of gun buybacks in Bristol Township:
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP: $50,000 for municipal building roofing project; $35,000 for a 80 kw portable generator; $17,000 for GIS mapping services for GIS system upgrade; $200,000 for road improvements; $58,000 to the township public works department for a diesel bypass pump; $48,000 for a township public works department roofing project; $60,000 for a storm water inlet replacement project; $30,000 for a municipal complex solar lighting project; $22,000 for a municipal complex sign project; $25,000 to the township police department for a gun buyback program
The authority that is responsible for distributing these funds is the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority. No doubt Bristol Township officials requested it, but the redevelopment authority still approved. In other news, it looks like the County SWAT team will be getting some money for new toys.
My concern here is that this a waste of money that could be better spent on measures more proven to actually do something to reduce crime. The amount being allocated here would cover a decent portion of the cost to hire a whole extra police officer. I thought I’d let me local readers know in case anyone wants to go stake out the buy backs and make sure no one turns in history for destruction; my other big issue with buy back programs.
Uncle does that “city my the city” bit all the time-whence comes that?
How much are they offering. I know someone who has a cheap pistol that’s broke. This might help them upgrade to a newer working model.
“Destiny. Destiny’s powerful hand has made the bed of my future. And it’s up to me to lie in it. I am destined to be a super-hero; to right wrongs; and to pound two-fisted justice into the hearts of evil-doers everywhere. You don’t fight destiny, no sir! And you don’t eat crackers in the bed of your future, or you’ll get all… scratchy. (Hey, I’m narrating, here.) They’ve assigned me a city. My mission? To free it from the ravages of evil and super-villainy, so its citizens may sleep easy, secure in the knowledge that they are protected. The city. My… the city. It cries to me of its need.” -The Tick
Best. Cartoon. Ever.
Never saw the cartoon, but I loved the live action series.
I thought it was something from one of his local papers…
Thanks Mathew.
In the late ’90s Allentown, PA was planning a series of gun buy-backs. We sent someone with a “Blue Book of Gun Values” to set up a table to do appraisals, in front of the first one. Our man was threatened with arrest, something he couldn’t afford at the time, and so he left. But, we contacted the ACLU, who notified the city that if they ever screwed with out First Amendment rights again, they’d have hell to pay.
The city, which had expected the whole affair to be one big love-in, decided the ACLU made it too big a pain in the ass to fight over, and canceled the rest of the buy-backs.
Just throwing out some ideas for Lower Bucks County.
This is money that could be putting more cops on the streets or expanding the jails.
By having less cops and less bunks in the jails we have more street crime. More street crime more “Gun Death”, more “Gun Death” calls for more gun control and more gun buy-backs.
Rinse, repeat.