Gun Buyback Program Announced: Via NBC4, the AP reports that MPD will be holding a gun buyback event this Saturday, in an effort to reduce violence — or perhaps to get in as much gun-buying goodness as they can before the Supreme Court rules on the gun ban. Guns can be turned in for payouts of between $10 and $100, and will be collected at Shiloh Baptist Church, Holy Christian House of Praise or Union Temple Baptist Church. Needless to say, participants will be given amnesty for the gun possession charges they would otherwise face.I'm all for reducing the number of guns in the general population, so I will keep my fingers crossed that Saturday's turnout at Shiloh will be significant. Hopefully gun buyback events ultimately reduce the number of armed criminals out there, either directly or indirectly.
That said, I always wonder about the appropriateness of any D.C.-endorsed function taking place at Shiloh Baptist Church, given the church's less than stellar record in the neighborhood (notably the church's portfolio of vacant properties that blight the area, its years and years of empty promises regarding building a senior center/affordable senior housing, and its neighborhood-business-undermining activities (e.g., its liquor license battles with select neighborhood businesses)) and given the number of city-owned public facilities nearby (e.g., Kennedy Recreation Center). At minimum, I feel that until the church no longer holds the neighborhood hostage with its boarded up blight, the city should avoid utilizing any of the church's facilities. Using church facilities associates the city with the church and impliedly gives the appearance of the city's endorsement of or need for this church. On a related note, I certainly hope that the city does not pay any rental fees to the church for hosting events, as I don't want my tax dollars going towards the paying the church's vacant property tax bills.
9 comments:
I'm all for reducing the number of guns around town, but why would the MPD choose these venues?
As you said, there are enough public locations around town where the buyback program could be held without involving any of these churches...enough already with the inappropriately close relationships between the churches and the city gov't!
Exactly. Amen. Separation of church and state.
I was just reading about the Queen getting its liquor license, and was wondering (sorry for the naivte/lack of history here) why the church protests a restaurant and NOT a liquor store across the street? What is the agenda??
an excellent question.
Hi neighbors - does anyone know when the Kelsey redevelopment project is slated to start?
We actually saw the Kelsey Gardens "team" at the Roadside hearing in November. They were there to see how things went for the O Street Market, presumably as an indicator of how their hearing will go. Looks like they may be asked to knock a couple of stories off of their building as well.
Not sure when their first hearing is.
Which is better...pay DC employees overtime to staff a DC government building which includes facility operation costs, take more police off the beat to provide staffing, or allow churches to volunteer their facilities and services and live up to their Christian tenets (see Isaiah 2:4)...and which is more costly to us taxpayers?
This assumes of course that Shiloh was not paid/reimbursed - maybe a question for MPD.
Isaiah 2:4 "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks..."
i think the DC police were the ones running & staffing the operation.
At any rate, this event got 125 guns off the street at shiloh, not sure about the other loctions. Guns off the street = always a good thing.
I've been meaning to stock up on pruning hooks, but can't seem to find any at Logan Hardware. Anyone have any ideas?
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