Gift cards for guns: What the Chicago Police Department gets from firearm turn-ins [View all]

https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-guns-gun-trade-in-chicacgo-buy-back-police-department/11575550/

I-Team analysis found that an increasing percentage of fakes are being turned in at these events. Sixteen percent of the gift cards in 2020 were for replicas. That jumped to 20% in 2021.

"Criminals are the least likely folks who are going to be turning the guns in," said James Sobol, Associate Professor, SUNY Buffalo State

Records obtained through FOIA show some of the weapons turned in are very old. They include a "flintlock pocket pistol" that was "popular in BRITAIN during the 18th century," an "early 1900s" Belgian revolver, and several decades-old shotguns and rifles marked as having "heavy rust." They also turned up a toy gun, made to look like a civil war-era revolver.

Criminal justice professor James Sobol has studied gun turn-in programs across the country. He said his research shows the programs don't have a significant impact on reducing crime.

(Excerpt)