Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 5, 1995 TAG: 9506050069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Short
Police at 16 area sites collected only 89 guns Saturday. In 1994, a program run by the same group - Enough Is Enough, of Cheverly, Md. - picked up 167 guns, organizers said. A year earlier, they collected 300 in a single day.
Seven Arlington County officers who gathered at a church parking lot netted just three weapons - including one mounted on a piece of wood - compared with more than 50 guns during the last such program at the church.
The regional anti-violence campaign didn't offer money or gift certificates in exchange for turned-in firearms, unlike some other programs that have drawn many weapons. A group of businesses, however, promised to donate $25 to Children's Hospital in Washington for each weapon.
But police and Enough Is Enough volunteers said the lack of a financial incentive was not the only problem Saturday.
Organizers say many people who are receptive to such a campaign - primarily adults who want to get guns out of a house where children live - already have gotten rid of their firearms.
Local newspapers and radio and television stations also did not give as much attention to the program this year as in the past, said Lt. Thomas Hoffman, who heads the Arlington police force's community resources section.
In addition, gun ownership has become more popular as the political climate has grown more conservative, said Kimberly Reed, chairman of the board of Enough Is Enough.
by CNB