Gun amnesty program unlikely to have impact

The  B.C. Gun Amnesty has collected more than 600 guns since the start of the program this month. However, SFU professor emeritus Gary Mauser says the campaign is highly unlikely to have an impact on violent crime. He doesn’t expect criminals to turn in their guns to the police. “It is poor policy for the police to ask citizens to surrender potentially valuable firearms without offering reimbursement,” says Mauser. “It is unacceptable that the police would destroy firearms surrendered to them. This policy has needlessly destroyed valuable heirlooms as well as costing law-abiding owners money.”

Gary Mauser, 604.936.9141, mauser@sfu.ca