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 ‘Goods for Guns’
is
Good for Philadelphia
Program at Tustin
Playground Recovers 415 Guns
At Saturday’s “Goods for Guns” event
that took place at Tustin Playground, we
received a staggering 415 guns. That
was the largest number of guns turned in
at any event we have done over the past
18 months.
As an initiative to
get weapons off the street, the Goods
for Guns Program was conceived by
Congressman Chaka Fattah, and the
implementation over the past 18 months
has been spearheaded by myself,
Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown,
and Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr.
In Philadelphia, a
major gun-violence problem exists. Each
and every day another life is taken by a
senseless act of violence. Our biggest
priority needs to be getting guns off
our streets and out of the hands of
vicious criminals.
To date, we have
received over 2,300 firearms in this
effort. The large number of guns turned
in indicates that the people of
Philadelphia are stating loud and clear
that they want the guns off of our
streets.
Our major partners in
this venture include the Brown Family
ShopRite, Forman Mills, Pepsi,
Philadelphia Safety Net, and the
Radio One stations WRNB 107.9, Praise
103.9, and The Beat 100.3. Without
these generous, hard-working
organizations we would not be nearly as
successful in our efforts to clean up
the streets.
A citizen who turns
in a gun receives a $100 voucher to
redeem at ShopRite and Forman Mills.
 This whole effort is
to do anything and everything possible
to keep guns off of our streets.
All firearms are
accepted at the turn-ins and no
questions are asked about the guns.
Once the guns are turned in, they are
logged and melted down. If a gun was
found out to have played a part in a
crime it will be fully investigated.
There have been 161
murders so far this year in the City of
Philadelphia. In 2007 there were 202
murders at this point in the year. The
number of murders in Philadelphia is
alarming.
 In addition to the
successful “Goods for Guns” program, we
also hope to make a lasting impact
through additional projects. These
include workshops with police in
neighborhoods and schools and an
informational outreach to populations
most at risk for gun violence.
Every gun that is turned in could
potentially save lives. Senseless
violence in Philadelphia needs to come
to an abrupt end and “Goods for Guns” is
a good first step for the City of
Philadelphia.
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