are old, often inoperable firearms. Heck, I'd take 150 bucks for something a dealer wouldn't give me $30.00 for. If someone is stupid enough to fork over the money...

in good working order are a menace to society no matter who has them.

"We found that the vast majority of guns turned in aren’t the type of weapons typically used in crimes. We also found many cases where people turned in BB and pellet guns, guns that were visibly broken, and even a flare gun.

At two Clearwater Police Department buybacks in 2011, 20% of the guns turned in were BB and pellet guns. The Largo Police Department held their buybacks jointly with Clearwater, and 12% of the guns they took in were BB or pellet guns."

Okay, I'm nit-picking... Tampa Bay Region is a tri-county area surrounding a body of water named Tampa Bay. Cited in the OP was only one County, Hillsborough, which doesn't include any other of the counties or municipalities.
So, to be clear:
Tampa Bay = a body of water
Tampa Bay region = the area around Tampa Bay
Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Bradenton, Clearwater, Brandon, Ruskin, etc = cities in the TB area.

are in Pinellis County. The Bucs don't play in the water either.

At least Lightning's building is on shore of Tampa Bay (technically, they're on shore of Hillsborough River, which feeds Hillsborough Bay, which joins Tampa Bay). Teams use Tampa Bay _____ , as a community-joining effort. National sports media continually refers to "City of Tampa Bay", which doesn't exist.

I haven't seen the City of Tampa Bay, but they know better here.

approach. Buybacks are fine to the extent that they give people the chance to dispose of unwanted and untended firearms in exchange for a little money, which might make some individual homes a mite safer. But I can't see them as having anything other than the most negligible effect on crime or public safety in general.

Except for purchasing publicity, they seem like extremely inefficient uses of funds - I definitely oppose the use of public funding for these, and private funds could be used better...

establishing rapport with the public.

meh.

Let's face it, standing in front of a podium waving around a beat up Daisy Red Rider, or rusted out break open single shot shotgun with the butt stock duct taped on, doesn't send shivers down peoples spines.

painted green and with a pistol grip attached. Instant rocket launcher. Where's my cash?

It's meant to be a symbolic gesture to soothe the worried brows of those people who believe inanimate objects are inherently evil.

It's the modern equivalent of the biblical injunction of turning your swords into plowshares. Turning your guns into cash.

caufield: It's {buybacks} not meant to reduce crime or violence

Yes it is, to a token+ extent depending on the buyback. Note suicide would be 'violence'. Accidental shootings by children & adults would be included also, as theft prevention.

It's {buybacks} the modern equivalent of the biblical injunction of turning your swords into plowshares. Turning your guns into cash.

I think this the first time I've agreed with much of what you've said; only it's more like gun buybacks become turning a liability into an asset.

oh wow, caufield quotes the bible;
thou shalt not kill
turn the other cheek
love thy neighbor
swords to plowshares......

I happen to do occasional free-lance reporting for a local paper so I have a press card ID from that paper. I arrived at the start of the buy-back, introduced myself, and asked permission to observe from an out-of-the way spot. The police and politicians were very nice to me and even produced a chair that I could sit in. I was free to walk up to the tables and take pictures of any guns that I desired to and to look over people shoulders, just don't touch any guns without permission. I politely watched and did not attempt any confrontational interviews.

I saw about 150 junk guns turned in, and a few, very few, quality guns turned in. For Dallas, 150 guns is a trivial amount. With all the pawn shops and gun stores there are likely more than that sold every day.

One guy turned in a TEC-9 that he claimed he had found. The TV news arrived to film a spot and, since the TEC-9 looks like a sub-machine gun, they featured it prominently in the news, instead of all the junk. I spoke with the TV lady before she taped and pointed out the the TEC-9 was nicknamed "jam-o-matic" by gun people because of it jammed often and that almost all of the guns were low quality, that one didn't see many Smiths, Rugers, Colts, etc, and not a single GLOCK. Not a single assault styled rifle. She listened but didn't say a word of that when she went on camera.

There haven't been any local gun buy backs since then. Kroger's supermarkets had sponsored the event and provided the $50 gift certificates.

BTW...The Bible also has a passage about beating plowshares into swords. It was a call to arms in ancient Israel.

... my bible doesn't say -- "Thou Shalt Not Kill" -- that is the Xtian translation.

My text says, "You cannot commit MURDER" -- That is a reasonable injunction to which any sane human would subscribe, while "thou shalt not kill" is just an impossible goal unless you never step on an ant or eat a hamburger.

And while there is nothing in my bible about cheek turning -- upper or lower cheeks --- loving your neighbour is prominently cited (Leviticus 19), as is swords into plowshares (Isaiah / Joel / Micah)

green storm cloud: ...The Bible also has a passage about beating plowshares into swords. It was a call to arms in ancient Israel.

I googled this, since I thought the platitude pertained simply to demilitarizing, not arming up (ie swords into plowshares, not vv). Couldn't find your version of it, except vaguely.
So if you could provide a link to what you say, thanks.
I'm sure it's been done, smelting plows for the metal, but didn't know it had it's very own platitude.

holdencaufield .. my bible doesn't say -- "Thou Shalt Not Kill" -- that is the Xtian translation. My text says, "You cannot commit MURDER" -- "thou shalt not kill" is just an impossible goal unless you never step on an ant or eat a hamburger.

Oh, I gotcha. So Xtians are vegetarians. I didnt know dat.

And while there is nothing in my bible about cheek turning.. loving your neighbour is prominently cited (Leviticus 19), as is swords into plowshares (Isaiah / Joel / Micah)

OK, now followup; does the bible, or your bible, or the Xtians translation, also have a passage where plowshares can be beaten into swords? (what gscloud says) - Gearing Up for war etc.. funny you challenged my dovish pacififism yet let gsclouds warchant go by.

... but no swords. I would think it to be cost-prohibitive these days to make plows out of swords (and vice versa).

I do, however, own a few firearms; none, to my certain knowledge, were made from recycled plows.