Ethics Newsline®

WASHINGTON
President Clinton last week launched a $15 million gun buyback program that he says is aimed at fighting the growing number of shooting deaths among U.S. children.

The new initiative follows a string of similar programs across the nation, most recently in Washington, D.C., where the police department netted more illegal guns in 48 hours than in the previous year.

Clinton said that such efforts were vital to protecting U.S. children, who suffer an accidental shooting rate “nine times higher than the rate of the other 25 industrialized nations combined,” reported the BBC.

The buyback program, operated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will provide each participating city with $500,000 to fund local buyback operations.

Such programs, paying $50 per weapon and with a no questions-asked approach, must be set up near community housing developments, where crime rates generally are high, according to the Washington Post.

Critics of the new program say that it will do little to stop criminal firearm use. But proponents argue that any measure that reduces the estimated 200 million guns in U.S. homes is welcome.