Well, folks. Boston Mayor Tom "Mumbles" Menino has apparently done it again. And we'd all be disappointed if he didn't, now wouldn't we? ;)
For those who are not aware, earlier this year he got egg all over his face in his campaign to ban "Stop Snitchin" t shirts. Boston Police officers were dispatched to local retail stores to shake them down and remove the offending T Shirts from their shelves. The official spin was that they were "saving lives". Trouble is, no lives were in danger inside any of these stores, so the local thuggery had a bit of free rein in the areas where the occupied police officers could have been patrolling instead of shaking down honest merchants who help to drive the economy in depressed areas of the city.
Anyway, back to our story.....
The City of Boston has instituted a "gun buyback program" whereby any person can drop off a gun and collect a $200 Target gift certificate as a reward, all on an anonymous basis with no questions asked.
Sounds like a good idea? Well, yeah, the part about getting guns "off of the streets" is a good idea indeed, but the rest is idiot spin that is bound to blow up in the face of the Mumblemeister just like always.
Certainly some guns will be turned in for the reward and the Mayor's spokesman will start spinning his wheels about what a "success" the program is. But the TRUTH is that the only ones that will get turned in are those that somebody had tucked away in their closet with no intention of ever using it. Folks who forgot that they even had one laying around until they were reminded by news of this buyback program.
First, let's put ourselves in the shoes of a lawless crackhead thug. In this position, what is the first question that we ask ourselves when we catch wind of this buyback program?
"Does Target have CRACK? $200 worth of CRACK would not be such a bad deal, but I don't think Target stocks CRACK." Or "How much money would I get if I did two or three stickups of hapless tourists this week? Probably more than $200, or pretty close to it. Then I'd still have the gun for more later. That buyback plan sounds like a ripoff to me".
I am beginning to wonder if the lion's share of the crack in Boston is being consumed in City Hall.
By the way....
They sure got some awfully cool "STOP MENINO" T-Shirts, Hats, Stickers and Buttons at http://www.cafepress.com/stopmenino
