Gun amnesty program may not have big impact on BC gangs
Posted May 30, 2013 11:17 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS1130) – A campaign to get guns off the streets may indirectly keep weapons out of the hands of gangsters, but police admit it won’t have a big impact on violence by organized crime.
A gun amnesty program will run throughout June.
The idea is to have people turn in registered or unregistered weapons that are gathering dust or are no longer wanted, without fear of prosecution, unless the gun has been used in a crime.
While the bulk of deadly shootings in this province are linked to gangs, Inspector Brad Haugli with the BC Association of Chiefs of Police does not expect gangsters to line up.
“However, weapons that are in households that could be taken through a break and enter will find their ways to criminals to commit a crime,” he says. “Having those weapons turned in, is one less weapon on the street.”
A gun amnesty program in 2006 saw more than 3,000 guns handed over to police.
