The Year of the Gun

The year: 1992. It was the height of the Los Angeles riots. People of different races were being threatened and harassed on the streets and were in danger of getting beaten or worse. It was at that time I purchased a .25 caliber handgun from a sporting goods store. The gun was a piddly little thing which probably had no stopping power. I have never used it all these years and it has never been fired. Last weekend an opportunity arose to finally get rid of it. The L.A. Sheriffs Department has a program called “Gifts For Guns” where you turn in a firearm with no questions asked and in turn they give you a $100.00 gift card from Best Buy, Walmart, or Target if it was a handgun, and $200.00 if it was an assault rifle. I wasn't familiar with the collection area so I drove past it before seeing the sign. I turned around and parked on the opposite side of where the entrance was supposed to be. The sheriffs had put those yellow “do not enter” tapes around the area. Not thinking too well, I took the unloaded and boxed gun from the car trunk and started walking past the yellow tape approaching the officers manning the entry from behind. I didn't realize that this was a drive thru operation until I got there since the newspaper notices didn't mention it. I was immediately stopped by an officer who asked me where I was going. I pointed towards the entrance and said I was turning a gun in. Another officer escorted me, took the gun and had to frisk me because I was a “walk up”. Then it occurred to me at that point how dangerous it was for me and them, that I had crossed the yellow boundary tape and was walking towards the officers with a gun. So I understand why they were taking extreme precautions. However, the officers were very respectful and walked me through the whole process. They separated the ammunition first, then at the next table they inspected the gun barrel for any bullets after which they inserted a disposable plastic gun lock in it. At the next table were the gift cards. There was a choice of picking two $50.00 cards from whichever store you wanted. I picked a couple of Walmarts because I thought that was where I could get the most bang for the buck. They also gave away a free t-shirt with Arnold Schwarzenegger's picture on it saying “TERMINATE VIOLENCE”. Everything turned out to be a very pleasant experience. I got $100.00 worth of gift cards for a never used gun that I bought for about $60.00 a long time ago. Pretty good deal!