This was a different kind
of gun buyback program.
The guns being bought back from the streets weren’t 9 mm handguns or Glocks. Instead, they were Nerf guns or toy pistols.
And they weren’t being bought with cash. This time, the currency was pizza slices, notebooks and dress shirts.
The FATHERS group and Bona Pizza teamed up Monday for a buyback aimed at younger teens and preteens at the pizzeria at Bailey and Kensington avenues.
The idea was simple: Don’t let kids get used to firing weapons, even if they’re toys.
“It makes them too comfortable, holding that gun,” said Leonard Lane, president of Fathers Armed Together to Help, Educate, Restore and Save. “Then there’s no fear holding the real gun when they get older. We want to put that fear back into our children, teaching them what guns can do, how they affect their community.”
“A toy gun today, a real gun tomorrow,” said Charles Cina, owner of Bona Pizza. “That’s what we want to stop.”
So kids such as Tarence Callaham, 14, a Buffalo ninth-grader, brought in his green and orange Nerf gun. In return, Tarence got a piece of pepperoni pizza, a snazzy dress shirt and the chance to shoot some hoops in the pizzeria parking lot.
“I learned that you shouldn’t have guns and stuff,” Tarence said. “It gives kids an education not to play with bad things.”
Tynell Ruffins, 9, a fourth-grader at Community Charter School, got a bigger haul in return for his orange and black Nerf gun. He got the pizza, a soft drink, a notebook, a dress shirt and a Marvel Heroes folder.
Kids were encouraged to make the trades, Tynell said, “so they can stop playing with guns.”
Lane explained why the location of Monday’s buyback was appropriate.
“Bailey Avenue is an area where gun violence is up,” he said. “Let’s be real. The only way we can save this community is to work together—the residents, the businesses—to stop violence.”
Lane said the five-hour gun buyback was expected to take about 100 toy guns from young people.
“We’ve got to be willing to exchange everything and anything to get guns off the street,” he added.
So what will the FATHERS group do with the 100 or so toy guns?
“We plan on burying them in the next six months,” Lane said. “We’re going to get a coffin and put the guns in the coffin, and we’re going to close that coffin and pray.
“It’s symbolic — burying the guns that have been burying us.”
of gun buyback program.
And they weren’t being bought with cash. This time, the currency was pizza slices, notebooks and dress shirts.
The FATHERS group and Bona Pizza teamed up Monday for a buyback aimed at younger teens and preteens at the pizzeria at Bailey and Kensington avenues.
The idea was simple: Don’t let kids get used to firing weapons, even if they’re toys.
“It makes them too comfortable, holding that gun,” said Leonard Lane, president of Fathers Armed Together to Help, Educate, Restore and Save. “Then there’s no fear holding the real gun when they get older. We want to put that fear back into our children, teaching them what guns can do, how they affect their community.”
“A toy gun today, a real gun tomorrow,” said Charles Cina, owner of Bona Pizza. “That’s what we want to stop.”
So kids such as Tarence Callaham, 14, a Buffalo ninth-grader, brought in his green and orange Nerf gun. In return, Tarence got a piece of pepperoni pizza, a snazzy dress shirt and the chance to shoot some hoops in the pizzeria parking lot.
“I learned that you shouldn’t have guns and stuff,” Tarence said. “It gives kids an education not to play with bad things.”
Tynell Ruffins, 9, a fourth-grader at Community Charter School, got a bigger haul in return for his orange and black Nerf gun. He got the pizza, a soft drink, a notebook, a dress shirt and a Marvel Heroes folder.
Kids were encouraged to make the trades, Tynell said, “so they can stop playing with guns.”
Lane explained why the location of Monday’s buyback was appropriate.
“Bailey Avenue is an area where gun violence is up,” he said. “Let’s be real. The only way we can save this community is to work together—the residents, the businesses—to stop violence.”
Lane said the five-hour gun buyback was expected to take about 100 toy guns from young people.
“We’ve got to be willing to exchange everything and anything to get guns off the street,” he added.
So what will the FATHERS group do with the 100 or so toy guns?
“We plan on burying them in the next six months,” Lane said. “We’re going to get a coffin and put the guns in the coffin, and we’re going to close that coffin and pray.
“It’s symbolic — burying the guns that have been burying us.”
11 comments:
Pray? To whom will they pray, Gaia? When angels bear terrible weapons to this day, why would he think any child of God could do without? When even Christ suggested that if you have no sword (the weapon of the day) but a cloak, to sell the cloak and buy a sword (and, from what I have heard, three were purchased for the disciples), why would we think we shouldn't. Are we better than the disciples? Do we know better than God? Gaia, definitely Gaia. But truth be told, if such a being existed, he/she/it would be for being armed too. Mother nature, as if that isn't another name for God's will, has created some amazing and lethal weapons. Bah!
Doom - isn't it amazing that Mother Nature, AKA Gaia McIntyre, AKA Betsy "Bite Me" Leibowitz, has armed her faithful subjects with tooth and claw as well as toxic venom?
Thanks Nickie, I feel safer already.
Well isn't that clever!
The scariest thing is that not only can these fools reproduce, they already have!
C'mon son. Put down that frisbee. Slowly.
this may sound odd coming from me, a former paratroop, hunter ed instructor and current cop. i don't let my kids play with guns. they are all under 10. they can play the target shooting videos if i'm there. they have in fact fired a real firearm (.22 revolver) while i supervised.
my reason is based on self reflection. a few years ago my dad said i am a gun nut. he blamed this on letting me watch all the war movies i could stand, books i could read, toy tanks and plastic army men i could find to play with, etc.
was he right? maybe, i joined up to jump out off planes.
do i regret it? no, i learned discipline and have tried to impart safe gun handling to others.
i could find fault with these guys, (and be a hypocrite) but i'm happy to see that in today's society, some of these dads are at least trying to instill some of the 10 rules to their kids.
A child that is used to playing with toy guns needs to be allowed to shoot a rifle one time (under supervision of course). Once it kicks back and lands him/her on their ass, they WILL know the difference then, and respect what it can do. They will know it's a weapon, not a toy
j summ - first off, thanks for your service. My dad was the same way, he served in the Navy and never fired a gun as far as I know as he was a hard hat diver. He took a sledge hammer to my grandfather's old antigue double-barreled shotgun when I was 13. I watched him almost in tears because I really wanted that shotgun because it belonged to my grand dad. He also got rid of two other guns that my grand dad brought back from Germany after WWI.
He never allowed my brother and I to even have a sling shot. I have rifles and several handguns now but I carry CCW (retired cop)and hunt. I wish I had kept every gun I ever bought because they all doubled or tripled in value over the years. I have a beautiful Ruger #1 that is worth five times what I paid for it back in the 70's.
I cannot really resect these men because they are teaching their boys to participate in meaningless gestures that accomplish nothing. Not one life will be spared from gun violence because of this. The trouble is with the young men who do not know their fathers, who do not have the discipline necessary to control themselves.
Sarah - I taught all my girls how to shoot as well as my grandson. They know the power of these weapons and how to handle them safely. But I also own a gun safe...
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