Trade in guns for XBOX 360s, PCs or cash in Mexico
By Jonathan Schlaffer
In an attempt to curb violent crimes, Mexican authorities have decided on a trial program. Citizens of Mexico City can trade in their high caliber automatic or semi-automatic weapons (such as rifles or machine guns) for a PC.
Those with smaller caliber weapons or pistols will be able to trade those in for a XBOX 360. There is also a cash option. The program was officially kicked off yesterday in the Tepito area of Mexico City where organizers have over 100 XBOX 360s and computers to give away. If the program is received well it will be introduced in other high crime areas of the city.
Guns handed over will be destroyed by the army.
I don’t know what goes through the mind of a criminal because I’m not one. I’m a gamer and in that, a nice gaming PC or XBOX 360 has far more use to me than a gun does. My bet is that at least some of the people that live in those areas are keeping guns for self defense; I’d hate to think that they would go in to trade their gun when it’s something that they might actually need.
I doubt the criminals are going to hand in their guns (except for the small time ones) but the serious organized crime type people are not going to bite, unless they have that little brother, sister or nephew that really really wants a XBOX 360.
It is unknown how well the program has been received so far.
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March 29th, 2007
Yep these people don’t need entertainment they need security.
The criminal will always have guns,good people need to protect themselves.
Take the money and build the police force,enforce harsh penalties for corruption.Mexico needs to be rebuilt ethically from the ground up.
The goverment and the people both have to want change and act on it.
Corruption is hard to get rid of once it starts.People learn to live and create systems to get what they need even if it’s wrong and harmful to society.
I am sure criminals would have no prob stealing guns for a free Xbox though.
March 29th, 2007
Agreed. Similar programs have been tried in the US to varying degrees of success. But this is the first time a government has tried giving away entertainment devices for guns.
If you are keeping a gun for purely self defense purposes, please do not trade it in. Perhaps some day, Mexico will have the police force that is needed so badly.
March 31st, 2007
Define “high caliber”.
BTW, gun buy backs in the US have been nothing but failures.
April 2nd, 2007
I have no idea what their definition of high caliber is. Generally, yes, failures but they all can’t have been complete and utter failures… can they?
April 3rd, 2007
“but they all can’t have been complete and utter failures… can they?” Yep. Complete and utter failures. They do nothing to reduce the number for firearms in the hands of criminals. They serve as dumping grounds for hot firearms (stolen or used in a previous crime - thus distancing the bad guys from the crime), broken firearms, etc. or or primarily used by law abiding citizens to get rid of an unwanted firearm. Occasionally someone will turn in a valuable or collectable firearm without knowing it is worth several thousands of dollars — and they get about $50 - $100 for it. Firearm buy backs are a joke, nothing more than a ‘feel-good’ measure.
BTW, there is no threshold of “high caliber” and the term is incorrectly used to refer to what should be called “large caliber” (refers to the diameter of the bore - no threshold defined). Most correctly used, “high caliber” would refer to the length of the barrel, but almost no one uses it that way. I can explain better in e-mail: tim.mccormick@hotmail.com