Chicago residents were welcomed to a “gun buyback” event over the weekend by the Chicago Police Department which offered $100 Visa prepaid cards to people who were willing to hand over their guns. According to FOX News, the intent behind the rare occasion was to help tackle the alarmingly high rate of gun crimes in the city of Illinois, with over three dozen shooting victims being reported on Thanksgiving weekend alone.
The “gun buyback” event took place in Saint Ida Church in Edgewater, where each resident was handed a prepaid card for each gun they were willingly giving up to the police department. Interestingly enough, there was no limit to how many guns one could hand over — a gift card worth $100 would be provided for every firearm, while BB guns were reimbursed with a $10 card.
A statement released by a CPD spokesperson later revealed that 103 firearms had been collected, as well as 19 replica guns, which they were now planning to destroy in a desperate attempt to create a safer environment for those in Chicago. “Gun turn-ins give the people the ability to turn in a gun with no questions asked,” Glen Brooks, who is the director of community policing for the CPD, said.
“We’re not asking whether the gun was found, whether it was left, whether you inherited it, it does not matter. What matters is that you do whatever you can to make yourself and your family safer.” It was further mentioned that the CPD was still open to collecting any other guns people wanted to hand over — but there wouldn’t be a gift card handout seeing that the event had already ended.
According to City of Chicago statistics, Chicago finished 2021 with 797 homicides, leading the nation in total homicides.
Edward died October 7, 1993 in Crystal Lake, Illinois! Chicago now has the highest homicide rate in the nation! https://t.co/hFMYIXkCWH
— Deborah Solomon (@DeborahASolomon) December 3, 2022
Chicago ranks #10 among major cities with a rate of 24 per 100,000 in 2022. pic.twitter.com/LAw13Sll8f
— 16th & 17th District Chicago Police Scanner (@CPD1617Scanner) December 5, 2022
Just last weekend, another six people were reportedly murdered in a series of brutal homicides in Chicago, which has left many people wondering how much longer people can remain in the city, which has one of the highest crime rates in the U.S.
The CPD has understandably become overwhelmed with the skyrocketing cases of robberies, shootings, and homicides that several measures are being put into place in the hopes of tackling Chicago’s issues with gun violence.
now John (sic) poulos will have an gun to throw down and say an unarmed unwhite person had after he kills another one before becoming a judge. how do you justify that move???