Guns for cameras in Halifax amnesty program

The Halifax Regional Municipality is offering digital cameras as an incentive to get guns off the street.

The Pixels for Pistols amnesty program was announced Friday by Halifax Regional Police and Henry's, a camera and photography business.

From Monday until Nov. 30, local residents will be able to turn in working guns in exchange for a new digital camera. Broken guns or ammunition can be traded for a gift card worthabout $80.

"Gun control is an essential component in community safety," said Supt. Don Spicer,the public safety officer for the municipality. "Unregistered, unwanted and unsafely stored guns have the potential to cause serious harm or death."

David Sparks of the East Preston Ratepayers Association said he approached Mayor Peter Kelly earlier this year to discuss gun violence. The idea for the amnesty program came in part from his daughter, who was visiting from Toronto at the time.

"I was telling her what we were going to try to do here," Sparks said. "She said, 'Oh. They tried that in Toronto and it actually worked.'"

When the Toronto Police Service ran a similar program in 2008, the city collected 1,900 guns and 60,000 rounds of ammunition.

In the Halifax area, anyone who is interested must contact the police and arrange for the firearm to be picked up. Guns cannot be brought toa police station or to a Henry's store.

Once police ensure the gun has not been used in a crime, it will be destroyed.

"I think it's a start," Sparks said. "You have to deal with the conditions that make for gun violence. The social, economic conditions.

"Violence is merely a symptom of a far greater problem and I think that's what we've got to really tackle."

Police said they are not expecting criminals to turn in their guns. They said they believe most of the firearms used by criminals were stolen from legitimate gun owners, the main targets of the amnesty program.

"If we can get those guns out of the homes now, then it's less likely that they will end up in the wrong hands," Spicer said.

Spicer said he'd like to see Henry's run out of cameras.