A Town Hall Forum On Gun Violence In Eugene

On October 29th, I was honored to take part in an excellent Town Hall forum on the issue of Gun Violence.  It was hosted at the First Christian Church in Eugene, Oregon, and was organized by Tony McCown, who is a candidate for Lane County commissioner.

Around 100 people took part.  Concerned citizens from many different walks of life, including a number of gun owners and hunters.  This was the second time the church has hosted such an event.  The first time, a couple years ago, I was one of the speakers.

I set up a table for Ceasefire Oregon, and there were three other representatives from my organization, too, including one of the speakers, Executive Director Penny Okamoto.  Moms Demand Action was also represented with a table and a speaker, Charlie McKenna.  Also on the panel was state senator Floyd Prozanski, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, and current Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson.

The Town Hall began with the speakers.  See video, below.  After a quick introduction by Penny Okamoto, Senator Prozanski discussed in detail issues around the recently-enacted Senate Bill 941, which requires a background check for every gun purchase, including private transfers, in the state of Oregon.  Mayor Piercy talked about the recent visit by President Obama to meet with the families of victims from the Umpqua Community College shooting, and about Mayors Against Illegal Guns (she is a member).  Commissioner Sorenson talked about the resolution by the Lane County Commissioners (he was the only vote against it) which declared that the background check bill was "unconstitutional" and that no funds would allocated to enforce it (against the oath that they took to do so).  Finally, Charlie McKenna talked about Moms Demand Action and what had to change in the Oregon Legislature in order to pass the universal background check bill after three years of trying.

The introduction of the speakers from the forum:



After this, the audience broke up into smaller groups to explore the issue of gun violence, its causes, and possible solutions.  I was impressed by how seriously everyone took the issue and the level of positive debate that occurred.  We all then re-convened and each group did a little presentation for each part of the questions.

Again, I was impressed with the solutions that people suggested, such as smart gun technologies, suicide prevention strategies, mandatory proficiency training for gun owners, and mandatory safe storage of guns, among other suggestions.  The level of awareness was most striking.  In similar forums, in the past, it didn't seem to me that there was the same level.

And, with each suggestion, comments were made by the speakers.  See below for Penny Okamoto's response regarding mental illness, and how the NRA and other pro-gun supporters scapegoat the mentally ill (who are statistically more likely to be gun violence victims than to be gun violence suspects):


I want to thank First Christian Church for hosting the event, the speakers, and most of all the other attendees, for taking part.  It is my hope that there can be more public forums like this one.

"All Aboard!" the Peace Train, 2013

I love engaging the public on the issue of gun violence and peace.  This is because the vast majority of citizens, including gun owners, support the main arguments of the gun violence prevention movement (hundreds of national polls show it, HERE).

One of my great joys each year is the annual Eugene Celebration parade, which makes its way through the heart of downtown Eugene, Oregon, and features nearly every aspect of our community and diversity.

One of the yearly entrants to the parade is the Peace Train: a brightly-colored, human-powered train engine followed by train cars, each of which bears the name of a local organization dedicated to peace and nonviolence.  This is the third year that I and Ceasefire Oregon have had a train car in the Peace Train (here is a link to information on last year).  Other organizations included in the Peace Train this year were Million Mom March, the Democratic Party of Lane County Peace Caucus, The Peace Center of Eugene, CALC, Veterans for Peace, and Beyond War.

The route, as always, was lined the entire way by throngs of area people.  This year the applause and cheering was deafening for the Peace Train, including shouts of encouragement for Ceasefire Oregon.  

See below for videos, posted on YouTube, taken by people along the route...

Here (at timestamp 19:08):

and here (at timestamp 3:09):

It warmed my heart to see and hear the response, but we need more than cheering.  Pro-gun activists work nonstop to make our communities less safe and undermine our attempts to reduce gun violence, in pursuit of their love of guns.  We have to work together to create a new trajectory for our nation away from gun violence.

Panel Discussion on Gun Violence: The Eugene City Club

Back on Friday, June 14, I was proud to join a panel discussion on gun violence, hosted by the City Club of Eugene, entitled "Finding Common Ground on Gun Control."  Coincidentally, this was the beginning of Father's Day weekend and the 6-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting.

The City Club regularly hosts speakers on a wide range of important topics, with professionals and politicians across the board.  So it was a great honor when they asked me to join them in this discussion.

I felt it was a very balanced discussion, with a local medical professional (Dr. Patrick Luedtke) to talk about statistics and the public health angle on the issue of gun violence, a local NRA member and essayist for gun rights and gun safety (Peter Loewy), and myself (Baldr Odinson), representing gun violence prevention efforts and concerns.

As written in the City Club's notice for the event:

Dr. Patrick Luedtke will present data on Lane County and Oregon firearm injuries and deaths and make general recommendations based on a public health approach to injury prevention. He is a Preventive Medicine and Internal Medicine physician. He is the Medical Director of Lane County’s Community & Behavioral Health clinics and the Senior Public Health Officer for the County. 

Peter Loewy will talk about creating a national movement to reduce the number of gun-related deaths and injuries without further infringing on Second Amendment rights. He is an NRA member and retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer who directed air traffic control towers and radar facilities. His letters and columns have recently been published in the Register-Guard. 

Baldr Odinson will focus on the broad, bipartisan support for universal background checks, proficiency training, child access protection laws, and waiting periods for gun purchases. He survived a shooting in his youth and now works to reduce gun violence through community action. Odinson is a blogger and Eugene’s point person for Ceasefire Oregon and the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation.

Dr. Luedtke gave some excellent statistics around the issue, including at the local, state, and national level, and stressed the need for safe gun storage and suicide prevention.

Peter Loewy is what I consider a mainstream NRA member and gun owner.  He is very much for universal background checks, safe storage of guns, and technology for tracing guns outside of government purview.  Here is a recent essay of his in the local newspaper.

The discussion was in four parts.  The first three parts were 10-minute presentations by each of the three speakers.  The fourth part was a Q&A session by City Club members, answered by the speakers.  Here is a brief news write-up of the event.

I would like to extend a thank-you to the City Club for hosting the event, and to the other speakers for taking part.

Here is audio of the full event, via KLCC radio.  

See below for video of each of the four parts, as posted by the City Club on YouTube, along with an excerpt that I appreciated most.

Dr. Patrick Luedtke:

Selected quote:  "I think overall we would agree that knowledge is power in training providers and the general public to recognize warning signs of suicide and homicide, something we've done for some years, is an evidence-based practice and helpful, but we also need to train gun owners to keep firearms from at-risk persons and we need to stress safe gun storage practices and each effective and practical steps that can be taken to save lives, reduce injuries, and prevent heartache."

Peter Loewy:

Selected quote:  "[A]n effective gun violence reduction program would embrace a very narrowly-defined goal to which most if not all parties can and will agree.  And that would be significantly reduce incidents of gun-related injuries, fatalities, and crime. Then, determine an equally-narrow approach that will effectively make firearms less available to those people who should not have access to them without infringing on Second Amendment rights. That would be, promote the secure, safe storage of firearms and ammunition when not in use. Thirdly, craft a working definition of what constitutes safe and secure storage of firearms and ammunition. And, finally (and this is the kicker), enlist the National Rifle Association, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and their allied associations to use their resources to start a grass-roots movement to increase and make nearly-universal the practice of securely storing firearms and ammunition when not in use."

Baldr Odinson:

Selected quote:  "Across the nation there are... around 3,000 children killed every year at the end of a bullet in suicides, homicides, and accidents. Another 14,000 or so are injured.... This is a very serious public health crisis. This is how we view it at Ceasefire Oregon and how I view it. More needs to be done to reduce those numbers. If that many children were killed by anything else it seems to me like there would be a massive public outrage, and yet, somehow, when it's a gun involved, we just write it off as 'Well, that's just how it goes in America.' and we can't do that anymore. We just can't."

Q&A session:

Selected question and answer: 

Question (directed at Baldr): "There are numerous quotes from the Founders that provide many gun enthusiasts with a mentality much like the Founders which is one from freedom from government, tyranny, and oppression. My question to you is, Do you feel like the time to fear government tyranny is over, or should we always maintain and foster an atmosphere of vigilance." 

Answer (from Baldr):  "Luckily we have a turnover of the government every four years, legally and non-violently, with checks and balances, too. Article III section iii of the Constitution specifically says that it is the militia's duty to prevent insurrection. So the Founders did not write into the Constitution the ability to overthrow them. Rather, they put in checks and balances. ..."

Our society needs more conversations like these.  Let's all take part.

A Successful Mother’s Day Weekend for Ceasefire Oregon

Baldr Odinson (at right) speaking, for Ceasefire Oregon, at the
2013 Million Mom March rally and march for peace in Eugene
(photo by Jasmine Rose Penter)

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day, a day when children everywhere show their love for the woman who raised them, and that mothers return that love.  Here in my home it was special, with my wife showered with homemade gifts from our two small children, in a safe and loving home, and a gift and call to my own mom, whom I will be visiting in another state later this year.

But Mother’s Day is different this year.  Still fresh in our nation’s collective experience is the horror that was Newtown.  Since that horrifying day, when 20 little children were gunned down, along with 7 adults, at least another 71 kids *under the age of 12* have been killed by gunfire in homicides and accidents, according to Mother Jones magazine.  From the article:

An average of 197 children ages 12 and younger died from gun shots each year from 1999 through 2010, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dozens are killed annually in accidents—often with other young kids firing the gun—although the majority die in homicides. 

Among the 71 shooting deaths we analyzed from the past five months: 

• 40 killings were unintentional and 31 were alleged homicides.
• The most common scenario was kid-on-kid: At least 29 of the accidental deaths occurred when a kid under 17 pulled the trigger.
• The average age of the victims was just under six years old.
• 20 victims were girls and 51 were boys.
• The problem was worst in the South: Florida had the most kids killed (four accidents, five alleged homicides), followed by Ohio and Tennessee (four accidents and two alleged homicides in each state), followed by Alabama (two accidents, two alleged homicides) and South Carolina (four accidents).

I see it every day, in dozens of email Google alerts, which I try to post whenever I can to the Kid Shootings blog.  But there is no way to keep up with them all, without taking away time from my own parenting and work responsibilities.  As we say at the Kid Shooting blog, over and over again: “Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.”  Children and guns don’t mix, and it is the gun owners, usually the parents, who are typically responsible for allowing access to guns in these tragedies.

Also from the Mother Jones article:

Many accidental shootings happen in or around a family home, often involving kids playing with guns. Others involve parents accidentally shooting their kids. These incidents don't exactly shore up the gun lobby's claim that Americans need to secure their homes with handguns or even AR-15 assault rifles. Public health researchers have found that having a gun in the home puts gun owners and their families at higher risk of being shot intentionally or accidentally. Forty-three percent of homes with guns and kids contain at least one unlocked firearm. And one study found that a third of 8- to 12-year-old boys who came across an unlocked handgun picked it up and pulled the trigger.

But we needn’t just shake our heads and despair.  We have to take action to limit the violence.  Ceasefire Oregon has been active in trying to get the word out about the dangers of gun violence.

Last Saturday, Ceasefire Oregon held its annual gun turn-in in Portland, and hundreds of people showed up.  485 firearms were turned in, in exchange for gift certificates to Fred Meyer and Safeway stores.  Among those guns were four assault weapons.  These are weapons, in working condition, which are now out of the hands of those who feel unsafe having them in their homes, who have inherited them from deceased relatives, or who have come to the realization that a gun in the home is 22 times more likely to harm you than to be used to protect you.  From an article:

“Given the recent events at Clackamas Town Center, Newtown, Connecticut, and elsewhere, people are obviously thinking twice about having weapons in their homes,” said Penny Okamoto, Ceasefire Oregon’s executive director. “The huge turnout we had today is clear evidence of that.” 

The number of weapons turned in was the highest since 2001, when 504 guns were turned in. Nearly 8,290 guns have been turned in since the annual event began in 1994.Participants who turned in working guns received gift certificates from Safeway or Fred Meyer. Handguns merited a $100 gift certificate, with rifles and shotguns getting $75, assault weapons $150, magazines with 50-round capacities or more $25 and pellet and BB guns $10.

And then, on Sunday, Ceasefire Oregon joined with Million Mom March for the 14^th annual march for

Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy addressing the
audience at the 14th annual Million Mom March
rally and walk for peace
(photo by Jasmine Rose Penter)

peace in Eugene, Oregon.  Around 100 people showed up to hear live music, speeches from Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, MMM organizer Betsy Steffensen, and myself, and then march 2-3 miles along the river trail in solidarity to reduce gun violence. 

From an article from the Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene:

About 100 people met at the Eugene Water & Electric Board Plaza along the Willamette River and listened to statements from Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and others who chose Mother’s Day to advocate for gun legislation reform. 

Several speakers echoed the words of the Dalai Lama, spoken during his sold-out presentation Friday at the University of Oregon, during their remarks at the plaza before embarking on a one-mile walk along the river to the Owen Memorial Rose Garden. 

Piercy said she is disillusioned by the absence of change in state or federal gun laws, even in the wake of the massacre shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December. She paraphrased the Dalai Lama when she said “never give up” and encouraged everyone to work together to put pressure on politicians to enact more thorough background checks for gun purchases. 

“We have to care about each other’s well-being,” Piercy said, again citing the Dalai Lama in saying the “core of peace” is caring about others.

I spoke mainly on the false assumptions that the pro-gun crowd make regarding “rights” granted by the Second Amendment, versus the historical truth of the amendment according to the Supreme Court and Constitutional scholars, and the difference between *having a right* and what *is* right to do.  My speech was well-received.  As I've said before, I greatly enjoy speaking in public on this issue, and will have other chances soon.

Mothers, hug your children tightly.  According to one study, around 3000 teens and children die every year in America to gunfire, and another 14,000 are injured.  I've seen it myself, when one teen shot another to death just a few feet from me, and in the death of a young friend in a suicide.

We have to work hard as responsible parents and citizens to limit those numbers, through child access protection laws and other sensible gun laws to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and youths, and create a new trajectory for our communities away from gun violence.


ADDENDUM (5/15/13):  A related article, written by the mother of a Sandy Hook victim, about the poignancy of losing a child to gun violence as a mother, particularly when Mother's Day comes around, by Rebecca Bond, who started the organization EVOLVE:

When I started Evolve, after the horrific tragedy of Sandy Hook, it was because I could not contemplate anything more unimaginable than taking away the life of a child. My child or another mother's child. One of our human miracles. It wasn't about guns to me. It was about a mother's conscience and the unfathomable idea that 20 children could be massacred and what if? What if nothing happened and we continue to look away from the truth about gun violence and gun behaviors in this country? As a mother, it was too unimaginable to consider. 

What drove me to start Evolve is knowing that we have to do better. That as mothers we must do better to make saving a life our priority. We know that human life is fragile because we know first-hand the miracle of creating one. We also know once that life is created, we must do everything within our power -- within our society's power -- to ensure that life does not go to waste. 

Guns are powerful, but human choice is more powerful. More powerful than a gun, more powerful than legislation, more powerful than the Second Amendment.

.

Rally for Gun Violence Prevention

Last weekend I was proud to take part in a Rally for Gun Violence Prevention, in Eugene, Oregon.  It was sponsored by Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation and Million Mom March, and endorsed by the Democratic Party of Lane County Peace Caucus.

The program began with instrumental music by Eugene’s Stewart Aubel, then two speakers: Betsy Steffensen, from Million Mom March, and David Hazen, from Eugene City of Peace.  Betsy spoke about the need for reasonable reforms to keep guns out of the hands of those who would abuse them, and David spoke about the need to foster a culture of peace in ourselves and our culture, including a proposal to require conflict resolution training for school students, prisoners, and gun owners.

In the middle of the program we had three songs by Eugene singer/songwriter Peter Almeida, who coordinated the musical portions of the event, including a sing-along with John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Then we had two more speakers:  Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, and then myself for Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation.  Mayor Piercy spoke about an organization she belongs to, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and what they stand for, spoke in favor of an ban on semi-automatic assault weapons, and then made an appeal for both sides to enter the gun debate with respect for the other side’s views.  I spoke about the ways that gun violence has affected my life, and called for legislative reforms, including universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammo magazines, and keeping guns out of schools.

The program ended with another song by Peter Almeida, and then more instrumental music from Stewart Aubel.

We would like to thank the City of Eugene and the Eugene Saturday Market for allowing use of their space, and the Bijou Art Cinemas for advertising.

Here is video of nearly the entire event, taken by local independent videographer Lance Jacobs:  http://vimeo.com/60924810

Ceasefire Oregon Rally in Eugene, OR to support new Gun Legislation March 2, 2013 from Lance Jacobs on Vimeo.

Media attended the event.  Here is some news coverage for the event:

KEZI:  http://www.kezi.com/eugene-residents-rally-for-gun-control/

KLCC radio (audio):  http://www.klcc.org/FeatureAudio/GUNVOICED3-2.mp3

KMTR:  http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Ceasefire-Oregon-rallies-in-Eugene/682QA7CwsEqo1Owv3CAm-g.cspx

An example quote from each of the speakers (with timestamp from the Lance Jacobs video linked above):

Betsy Steffensen, Million Mom March:

(0:51):  [I'm] for responsible gun ownership, not "control."  Everybody likes to use the word "control."  I don't want your guns.  You may keep it and put it in your safe and unload it and lock it up, that's what I want to happen.  People who go hunting, that's great, this is a great state for hunting -- go! -- but when you come home, unload your gun and lock it up.  If you have children who go play with the neighbors, I think it's a really good question to ask the family, "Oh, do you have weapons? Do you have guns in the house? And are they secured?"

David Hazen, Eugene City of Peace:

(9:30):  I propose that students at all levels, people incarcerated, applicants for purchase of a gun, as well as every public employee and candidate for office be required to demonstrate their competency in conflict resolution. The educational resources for that skill could be offered in partnerships with non-profits, churches, and neighborhood associations. TV stations could be enlisted to air PSA’s and programming that supported conflict resolution skill-building. The funding for such a program would probably be a small fraction of all the violence-containment measures now being proposed. 

Can you imagine how such a program would reduce the use of any weapon — including verbal abuse — to resolve conflict? The ratio of benefit-to-cost would be huge, and the NRA just might support it.

Kitty Piercy, Mayor of Eugene, Oregon:

(24:15):  Whether you are a person who owns a gun or not, there are points of agreement we should all be able to have.  I truly believe that none of us wants to see another child die.  I truly believe that we all care about safe homes and a safe future for everyone, and so I think we share those values, and we need to do a better job of how we get there.

Baldr Odinson, Ceasefire Oregon:

(33:25):  We've had speakers talking about personal responsibility.  We're all positive people, right?  We're in Eugene.  Eugene is a beautiful town and we have beautiful, positive people.  We don't want to think we live in violence, but we do.  The other night, there were gunshots near my home.  Why?  Why does anyone need to fire a gun?  There wasn't a report to the police.  What happened?

When we hear the stories on the news, every week there seems there's some shooting in our area, or some gun crime, or some felon [in possession], we shake our heads, and we say, "Ohh.  Not again."  Then we turn off the TV, go to sleep, wake up, and do life as usual.  We all have to be involved.  We all have to talk about it.  We all have to talk to our legislators and say, "We want something done, right now!"  Right?  Right.  Right now!  Not a year from now.  Not ten years from now -- as people continue to die.  It's not just a question of freedom.

The pro-gun folks talk about their rights -- and they do have rights.  To them, a gun represents a symbol of justice and freedom and the American way.  A "stand against tyranny."  But when you're looking down the wrong end of that gun, when you're holding a dead teen in your arms, as I have, when you're attending the funeral of a friend who's killed himself, that gun is no longer a symbol of freedom to you, it is exactly what it was designed to be:  a deadly weapon.

Rally participants (from top to bottom, moving left to right):  Betsy Steffensen, David Hazen,
Mayor Kitty Piercy, Baldr Odinson, Peter Almeida, and Stewart Aubel  (all images except bottom right
taken from screenshots of video by Lance Jacobs. Bottom right taken from KMTR video screenshot)

Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that the ELaw Conference was scheduled for the same day and time (oops), so many of the potential audience, "progressives" in Eugene, were there instead, so turnout at the rally was low.

Also, 5 or 6 pro-gun demonstrators showed up, waving signs that opposed the proposed Oregon assault weapons ban.  They were mostly respectful, though confrontational enough to hold video cameras in our faces and trying to ask personal questions.  Same ol', same ol'.  

I'm looking forward to the next rally we can hold.

Ride The Peace Train 2012

The Peace Train (image from Democratic Party of Lane Co.)

Last Saturday was the annual parade for the Eugene Celebration, in Eugene, Oregon.  Once again, one of the entries in the parade was the Peace Train, a colorful, human-powered train engine followed by train cars, each decorated with the name of a local peace and non-violence organization.  As with last year, Ceasefire Oregon was proud to have a car in the Peace Train.  I love getting out and engaging the public, particularly at events like this one.

We had a number of volunteers help out, either in the march or to help with preparations.  Besides Ceasefire Oregon, other organizations included Million Mom March, the Democratic Party of Lane County Peace Caucus, Skipping Stones multicultural magazine, Veterans for Peace, a group that holds peace vigils, the Eugene Department of Peace, Beyond War, the Eugene Mennonite Church, WAND (who was protesting unmanned drones), CALC, Women in Black.  A city councilwoman was also in the group.

Here is a video of the train, at the staging area just prior to walking in the parade, which I filmed.  Ceasefire Oregon's train car is the one immediately after the engine:

Here is another good video.  Go to timestamp 1:35 - 1:50:

Here is another image of me and the Ceasefire Oregon car, from the KVAL news site:

The parade was very well attended, with thousands of people cheering and clapping for us the entire route.  It is very satisfying to see the level of support our organizations receive here in Eugene.

On to next year!

Portland Gun Turn-In A Success

One of the key events put on each year by the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation is the gun turn-in event, held once or twice each year.  Anyone can turn in unwanted guns, no questions asked, and receive a gift card in exchange.  Each working gun will be exchanged for a $75 gift certificate to Fred Meyer stores (up to three per person).  Non-working guns and BB/Pellet guns receive a gift certificate to a fast food restaurant.  No questions asked.  Portland Police Department was there to take the weapons, check them for safety, and check their serial numbers.  The guns are then destroyed.

This turn-in, there was a total of 235 weapons:  64 rifles, 44 shotguns, 114 handguns, 10 pellet guns, 1 crossbow, 2 non-working guns.

News article and video:  http://www.katu.com/news/local/Gun-turn-in-event-aims-to-curb-gun-violence-166663106.html?tab=video&c=y

This is an excellent win-win situation.  People who are unable or unwilling to keep a gun safely will turn them in, making homes and streets safer in the process, and in return are able to get a gift card for food or necessary department store items. 

And who turns in the guns?  Not criminals, most likely.  What criminal would knowingly approach a police officer with a crime gun?  No, these are widows who don't know how to handle their husband's weapon, or new parents who understand that guns in the home are a danger to children, or people who inherited weapons and understand that a gun in the home is 22 times more likely to harm them than to be used to protect them.  Occasionally it is someone with a gun that is defective to the point of being dangerous.  In all these cases, the gun is clearly more of a liability than a blessing.  Gun owners and non-gun owners alike should be glad this is happening.

Lucy Mashia with her three grandchildren at the Portland event

People like Mrs. Lucy Mashia, who is featured in the news video.  Her son, Leonard James Irving, was gunned down last June, leaving behind three small children (also seen in the video).  She knows more than most the danger of guns in the wrong hands in our society.

From the video:

"My son loved life so much and someone just took his life, a bad decision, a five-second decision to pull the trigger," she said. "My heart is going to be heavy for the rest of my life."

Irving was about to turn 35 before he was shot and left for dead in the street. Instead, his three young children are getting older without him.

"I cannot fill the role," Mashia said. "All I can do is be grandma, you know?"

But really, Mashia feels there is more to do and more to say and wants the violence to stop. But being at Saturday's turn-in event is one way she's trying to make a difference and stop the violence. Also there was Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Tim Sessions, who has helped with the event for years. He doesn't know if it will really ever prevent a gang shooting since most of the people at Saturday's event had inherited guns and were unsure what to do with them.

Sessions, however, said the event will prevent both crime and death.

"These are unwanted guns," he said. "People who have unwanted guns usually don't store them or secure them in a way that would prevent theft or even accidents happening within their homes."

The same day, there was a similar gun buy-back in Lansing Michigan, sponsored by the city and its Guns for Groceries program.  Each gun was redeemed for a $100 gift card for food.

Within about 2½ hours, the program bought back nearly 100 guns using roughly $10,000 that had been donated to the effort to reduce crime and shootings in Lansing, Police Chief Teresa Syzmanski said. The city-sponsored program offered a $100 Meijer gift card for every weapon that was turned in Saturday to police on a “no questions asked” basis.

Syzmanski said all the weapons will be destroyed.

“We’ve been burying too many young people in this community. It’s one more tool,” said Mayor Virg Bernero, who visited the event. “Any guns taken off the streets is helpful.”

While Bernero said he doesn’t expect criminals to turn in their guns, he hopes the program will reduce weapon thefts and help keep guns out of the reach of young people. Bernero, who says he is not anti-Second Amendment, said it is the first gun buyback program in the city in many years.

The article gives an example of a man who turned in his long-unused shotgun, out of fear that his 6-year old daughter might find it.

Back in June, there was a gun turn-in in Chicago.  A total of 5,500 guns were handed over in the one-day event!

“I’m quite certain that if you look at some of these heavy weapons we certainly are making a difference here, just by getting these guns off the street,” McCarthy said at a Saturday evening news conference to show off some of the weapons.

The firearms ranged from an M-60 machine gun and sawed-off shotguns to to pen-like “zip” guns that can fire a lethal round. Of the 5,500-plus weapons, about 700 turned out to be BB-guns or replicas, McCarthy said.

During the gun turn-in Saturday, dubbed “Don’t Kill a Dream, Save a Life,” Chicagoans could turn in firearms, no questions asked, at churches to get $100 gift cards for each firearm. BB-guns and replicas were worth $10 cards. Some locations ran out of gift cards and had to give people IOUs.

Of course, the pro-gun extremists come out in force to oppose turn-ins.  Some stand outside the event, heckling those who attend and who volunteers for the event, and trying to buy guns off of anyone trying to turn guns in.

If you read the comments from the Portland turn-in, you'll see the usual statements from them.  One suggested the guns should have been given to children's charities.  Another stated "first the cops turn there guns in then maybe I will think about it myself," as if he needs his guns to fight police.  Another suggested that only criminals would turn in the guns.

Another couple commenters suggested that turning over guns in events like this would allow our tyrannical government to take over.  One wrote:

Of corse they want our guns, they are the only things standing in the way of the total fascism our government seeks.

Another stated,

THIS IS THE BIGGEST COMMIE PLOT EVER DEVISED TO TURN "CITIZENS" INTO "SUBJECTS!!!!!!!!" These morons are not real Americans!!!  They have an obligation to own and carry firearms to keep the peace AND GOVERNMENT from taking over!!!  THEY ALL NEED TO MOVE TO SOME EUROPEAN COMMUNIST COUNTRY!!! This country was not founded on surrendering your firearms.  It just demonstrates how brain dean and lacking critical thinking these excuses for human beings really are.

Lovely.  As if their pea-shooters would pose any resistance to a highly-trained army armed with modern military weapons.  These commenters seem to forget that many countries, such as Canada, England, Australia, and most of Europe, which have far stricter gun regulations (and less than 200 shootings a year, I might add) have somehow nonetheless remained a democracy.  They also seem to forget all those countries which overthrow dictators by peaceful means, without the need for widespread civilian gun ownership (such as India, Egypt, Tunisia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Poland....).  But I digress.

Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation and other organizations will continue to sponsor gun turn-ins.  They make sense.  Logical people understand that not everyone should have guns, even if it is their right to do so.  Getting guns out of the wrong hands is the responsible thing to do. 

Mrs. Lucy Mashia had a valuable statement in that first video as she stood there holding her dead son's three children:

"Everybody has a bad day, but if you have a gun, that bad day may turn into your last day."

ADDENDUM (8/19/12): A related news article on the Portland turn-in, illustrating the pro-gun hawkers who offer to buy guns from those turning them in, or profit or "on a principle."

ADDENDUM (8/19/12): Another gun turn-in today, this one in Queens, New York, brought in 509 guns.  From the article:

A total of 509 guns were surrendered at a Queens church on Saturday as part of an effort to clean up street violence in the borough, the NYPD said.

Among the firearms collected in the six-hour buyback event at the New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Jamaica was an AK 47, a TEC-9; and a Calico 9mm with a 50 round magazin, cops said.

Amid a wave of gun violence that plagued the city streets this summer, the NYPD, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and State Sen. Malcolm Smith hosted a gun buyback initiative. People turning in working handguns, rifles or shotguns received $200 bank cards.
....
Queens resident Catherine Cruz found the initiative a perfect opportunity to give up her .25-caliber automatic handgun she once considered her “security blanket.”

“I have a 5-year-old granddaughter and I don’t want her to find it,” said Cruz, 53, who added that she used to carry the firearm in her purse every day on her bus commute to work for “protection.” But she stopped carrying it when she got a car.

ADDENDUM (8/20/12): Yet another gun turn-in, in Ocala, Florida, brought in 50 weapons.  From the article:

In four hours Saturday, residents turned in 41 functional handguns, one non-working handgun, two pellet rifles, one pellet gun, two shotguns and two rifles at the Ocala Police Department during the Gun Buy Back program, held at OPD headquarters.

Each functional handgun turned in was exchanged for a $50 Walmart gift card, with a limit of two cards per person.

Non-working handguns and long guns were accepted for disposal.

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