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With another surge in gun violence in Philadelphia, local police, government leaders and others are now calling for residents to turn in their firearms in order to save lives.
The “Home Gun-Check Campaign” was launched this weekend as 20 shootings in the city over the weekend left four people dead and 15 others wounded. While it was not being called a buyback program, the effort called for law-abiding residents of the Pennsylvania city to relinquish their guns in order to combat the escalating violence.
Are people really this dumb?
Law-abiding citizens should turn in their guns and have no means to defend themselves while outlaw criminals who have been breaking the law will keep weapons and continue their criminal ways with a leg up. 👍
This is a special kind of stupid. https://t.co/ycJLsKZIyC
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 16, 2020
“Are people really this dumb?” President Donald Trump’s son reacted in a tweet to the news report, calling it a “special kind of stupid.”
“Law-abiding citizens should turn in their guns and have no means to defend themselves while outlaw criminals who have been breaking the law will keep weapons and continue their criminal ways with a leg up,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote.
But the ill-timed program announced last week went ahead this weekend, after its merits were touted by supporters, with two churches in the area being designated as drop-off locations.
“Get those guns, run in that room, see what’s in there, find out what is being hidden in your house, take it out and turn it in,” City Councilmember Cindy Bass said at a news conference held outside of Police Headquarters just days before the deadly weekend unfolded, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Community members who submit firearms will not be asked to produce identification,” Police Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw said. “In addition, the submission of a firearm will not trigger an investigation of the person who relinquished it.”
Rev. Gregory Holsten from Janes Memorial United Methodist Church added that “you can possibly save their life and the lives of other people.”
And Councilmember Curtis Jones declared that, “You might be saving your child’s life because gun violence is as dangerous as coronavirus.”
Emergency hearings were held last week by the city council to address the alarming rise in gun violence.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported:
The number of homicides in the city in 2020 soared to 261 as of Thursday night. That’s a 29% increase from the same period last year and the highest number of killings in nearly three decades, when 275 homicides were recorded for the same period in 1991. Most homicides result from shootings.
The police commissioner called the gun violence “disturbing” and “disheartening,” according to Fox 29 Philadelphia.
“We’re doing everything that we can to make sure that we resolve these matters in an expeditious manner so we can hopefully get ahead of anything that could occur as a result of this,” Outlaw said Sunday after another rash of shootings.
A block party with more than 200 people attending devolved into chaos as five people, including a 16-year-old boy, were wounded with non-life threatening injuries when gunfire broke out, according to Outlaw, who also noted that the victims may have had nothing to do with the block party.
(Source: CBS Philly)
Investigators reportedly recovered 28 AR-15 rounds and 10 40-caliber rounds at the scene. Earlier the same night, a man in his 20s was killed when he was shot in the head at a different location.
As local officials scratched their heads and threw up their arms over the spike in violence, the response to launch a home gun check was slammed on social media.
I have guns “laying” around the house, and the funny thing, they are all legal, serve a purpose and only fire when I pull the trigger. How about the people that perpetrate gun violence turn themselves in.
— Mark in DFW (@markb094) August 16, 2020
Those who are irresponsible are harming others so we must have those irresponsible and responsible turn all theirs in
Great logic, totally not backwards
— Gorgonite in disguise (@RoonKolos) August 16, 2020
By ‘wrong hands’, I think they mean homeowners who want to protect themselves from armed, violent criminals
— John Betts (@JohnFromCranber) August 16, 2020
Can you imagine being so worthless and dense, that you actually think guns laying around that no one is using is what’s causing an uptick in violence?
How about you STOP RELEASING CRIMINALS.
— Mindy Robinson 🇺🇸 (@iheartmindy) August 17, 2020
You mean removing the Kate Smith, Frank Rizzo and Columbus statues didn’t immediately halt all gun violence???
— JCorrado (@ForzaCorrado) August 15, 2020
Cities tell their police to back off protecting citizens and violent crimes skyrocket… Liberal solution: turn in your guns
— Wayne Dunlap (@wdunlap) August 16, 2020
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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