Another County Is Hoping Gift Cards Will Bring in the Firearms

By Erika Haas

It seems yet another county is hoping to solve its gun violence problem with gift cards.

Prince George’s County in Maryland is reportedly looking to expand its gun buyback program, which was launched back in 2012. The effort is likely in response to the still fairly recent mass shootings in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Texas.

“We want to do everything we can to stop gun violence before it starts,” Corporal Harry Bond, Prince George’s County Police spokesman, tells The Diamondback.

The last buyback event, which was held on November 18th, brought in 161 firearms. For those 161 guns, the county ended up paying out more than $19,600 in gift cards.

According to the program’s sponsors, though – including the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, the Zion Church of Landover and the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center – the cost is worth it.

“The impact of gun violence is not just seen through homicides and people who have lost their lives in connection to guns, but also people who have been victims of other gun-related crimes like robberies and assaults,” James Marshall, pastor of the Zion Church, tells The Diamondback. “We believe doing this program will incentivize people to make …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms