Jul 25, 2008 12:41 pm US/Central
Activists Fight To Get Guns Off The Streets
Organizers Hope Gun Turn-In Program Nets 13,000 Firearms
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Community activists argue that the fewer guns there are on the streets, the less likely people will use them.
For that reason, they are making an all-out push for a gun turn-in program this weekend.
As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, 25 churches from around the city will participate in the fourth annual gun turn-in on Saturday.
On Friday, four Chicago aldermen, members of the clergy and other officials and advocates appeared at a news conference at the Grace and Peace Center, 2100 N. Kildare Ave., to help get the word out.
"Every year in this country, more than 11,000 people are killed by guns. That averages out to 30 killings a day," said Vance Henry, director of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy for the Police Department. "Unfortunately, unless a gun is completely destroyed, it lives forever, whether it's defective or not.
"But the havoc created and the lives lost because of senseless violence in our communities is fatal," Vance continued at the news conference. "For our children under the age of 19, firearms are the second leading cause of death in the United States after motor vehicle accidents."
The Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church led a rally at the Thompson Center downtown on Thursday, calling for what have been dubbed common sense gun laws.
Relatives of gun violence victims pleaded with the public to turn in guns this Saturday. They demonstrated in honor of victims, among them Percy Rounds, 15, who was killed this week while sitting on the porch of his Roseland neighborhood home.
"Four months we've been down here, saying that every time a child gets killed in the city of Chicago, we're going to keep it in the faces and legislators, and keep the city from being immune or accustomed to our children dying," Pfleger said.
Currently in Chicago, unless your gun was purchased before the ban went into effect in 1982, it is illegal to possess a handgun within city limits. But that may be soon be changing, following a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared the Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right to possess handguns in their homes for protection.
North suburban Wilmette this week became the first Chicago suburb to invalidate its handgun ban, and a spokesman for suburban Morton Grove says a possible repeal of a handgun ban there is "on the agenda." Evanston, Oak Park and a few other suburbs also have handgun bans on the books.
Within minutes of the June 26 ruling, the Illinois Rifle Association filed a lawsuit to overturn the Chicago ban.
But in announcing the latest gun turn-in effort, Mayor Richard M. Daley reminded Chicagoans that, for the moment at least, Chicago's ban on gun possession has not been overturned by the courts and is still in effect.
Gun turn-in programs have been successful in recent years. Last year, a record 6,700 guns were handed over. But organizers hope to collect about 13,000 guns on Saturday.
The city's gun turn-in program has netted more than 11,000 illegal guns since 2006.
Corporations give out a $100 credit card in exchange for each gun. Pellet and replica guns are also accepted for $10, since police say pellet and replica guns are just as dangerous on the street when pointed at someone.
Sometimes families bring in multiple guns, no questions asked.
COMPLETE LIST OF TURN-IN LOCATIONS: St. Pancratius
2957 W. 40th Place
773.523.5666
Fellowship M.B.C. Church
4543 S. Princeton Ave.
773.373.8537
Chicago Islamic Center
3357 W. 63rd Street
773.436.8083
Greater Salem Baptist Church
215 W. 71st Street
773.874.2325
First Church of Deliverance
4315 S. Wabash Ave.
773.373.7700
Tremont Baptist Church
4649 S. Prairie Ave.
773.548.2011
Liberation Christian Center
6810 S. Ashland Ave.
773.436.7940
St. Rita Cascia
6243 S. Fairfield Ave.
773.434.9600
St. Sabina Church
1210 W. 78th Place
773.483.4300
New Vision of Faith Ministries
447 W. 120th Street
773.264.3020
Beth Eden Missionary Baptist Church
11121 S. Loomis Street
773.233.6953
Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church
9231-33 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
773.487.8441
Trinity All Nations
9600 S. Vincennes Ave.
773.238.1174
St. Stephen's Lutheran Church
8500 S. Maryland Ave.
773.994.2700
Uptown Baptist Church
1011 W. Wilson Ave.
773.784.2922
Wayman AME Church
509 W. Elm Street
312.943.8530
United Church of Rogers Park
1514 W. Morse Ave.
773.761.2500
St. Agnes Catholic Church
2651 S. Central Park Ave.
773.522.0142
St. Agatha Catholic Church
1400 S. Kedzie Ave.
773.522.3050
Peoples Church of the Harvest
3570 W. 5th Ave.
773.533.6877
Revival Fellowship COGIC
2810 W. Washington Blvd.
773.533.4110
Heritage International Christian Church
5312 W. North Avenue
773.237.9600
Grace and Peace Center
2100 N. Kildare Ave.
773.489.5949
New Life Covenant
1665 N. Mozart Street
773.384.7113
Heirs of the Promise Church
4821 W. Chicago Ave.
773.342.5377
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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