More Guns “Off the Streets” in Bean Town
The Boston Herald and Associated Press proudly announce that Worcester has managed to get “241 guns off the streets.” This was the number of handguns that were collected in exchange for a retail gift card. The news makes a big deal that these included “76 semiautomatic pistols.”
“Those who dropped off firearms were given gift cards to Wal-Mart. Rifles were redeemed for $25, revolvers for $50 and semiautomatic pistols for $75.”
We’d like to ask who determines these prices? It seems like rifles should be worth more, and once again we ponder the fact that some prized positions, and highly valuable pieces of history were likely handed in and will now be destroyed.
Who Guards the Guards: Boston Cop Loses Vacation, Is it Enough?
It is the holidays, so should we feel sorry for a state police lieutenant in Massachusetts? According to a source quoted in The Boston Herald, the officer has lost his vacation pay. Should we feel sorry? His base pay is stated to be above $90,000 at a time when unemployment in this country is above 10 percent, and nearly as many could be described as “under employed.”
What he basically did was left his department-issued gun unlocked in a bureau inside his home. OK, so that was irresponsible. But it gets worse according to the paper:
“In June 2008, the veteran troopers son, who was 12 at the time, grabbed Bolducs Sig Sauer P226 .40-caliber handgun from an unlocked bureau, took it to a neighbors house, pointed it at a 5-year-old girl and pulled the trigger. The gun was not loaded, according to Sandwich police, but during their investigation, police found a loaded clip in the same unlocked drawer.”
Gun safety is no joke of course. But how the veteran police officer didn’t know to teach a 12-year old that guns are also no joke is beyond us. Let’s hope that the now 13 or 14-year old faces a Christmas with coal in his stockings this year. And if that sounds harsh, consider that the parents of the little girl might have had to face Christmas morning without their child because of the officer’s irresponsibility!
