Buyback Plan Uses Tax Break

Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks on Monday proposed an innovative gun buyback program that would give owners tax breaks, instead of cash, for every gun turned in.

The benefit of a tax credit program, police officials said, is that it could be implemented without having to provide a pot of money for the exchanges. Such a program, however, would require either federal or state legislation.

Parks said he will discuss the proposal in more detail at today’s Police Commission meeting. Commission President Gerald L. Chaleff said last week he wanted the LAPD to examine the feasibility of gun buyback programs.

“I think it’s a worthwhile avenue to consider,” Chaleff said of Parks’ proposal Monday.

Parks’ initiative builds on his campaign for more effective regulation of firearms. Using his stature in the law enforcement community to press for such laws, Parks has called for a national ban on all assault weapons and so-called Saturday night specials.

In a letter sent to the Police Commission on Monday, Parks said the recent shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and the related slaying of a mail carrier have “galvanized the public will” to enact tighter gun regulations.

“The vast majority of this nation is now demanding decisive and proactive measures to stop the killing,” Parks wrote. “Many people are looking to their police officials for leadership in that effort. The LAPD accepts that challenge.”

Parks’ support of gun control measures is the most outspoken he has been on any issue in his two years in office.

“This is something he cares greatly about,” said one high-ranking LAPD official. “He’s apolitical. This is not grandstanding.”

In addition to advocating sweeping gun control laws, Parks has also taken on the National Rifle Assn. and similar organizations, calling them special interest groups that promote “gun violence in the United States.”

Parks, in his letter to the commission, said the LAPD has generally found gun buyback programs to be “ineffective for a number of reasons, including the money and paperwork required for such programs.” But, he said, his proposal might be more effective.

Gun buyback programs have grown in popularity over the years. Across the country, thousands of people have turned in guns for rewards. In Washington, D.C., recently, the response was so overwhelming that the city temporarily ran out of cash for the program and had to turn people away.

In other places, officials have offered gift certificates, sneakers or concert tickets to entice people to turn in weapons.

Yet law enforcement officials, even those at the LAPD, say the programs have little effect on crime. And, because a state law requires police to note the name, address and phone number of everyone who voluntarily turns in a gun, criminals do not usually participate.

“They are well-intended and good for heightening the awareness of the proliferation of weapons. However, oftentimes they are not as successful as we would like,” said Cmdr. David J. Kalish, an LAPD spokesman.

Nonetheless, he said, such programs do take guns out of circulation--a result that Parks very much supports.

Police commissioners have said they are pleased with the leadership role Parks has taken on the issue of gun control and want to find ways to further support his efforts.

“I’ve always believed that we, as a society, should do something to control the proliferation of guns in our community,” said Chaleff, who, as president of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. several years ago helped pass a resolution supporting sweeping gun control measures. “Every weapon we can prevent from getting into the wrong hands has the potential to save a life, stop a crime or prevent an accidental shooting.”

Although Parks does not oppose guns used for hunting or home protection, he says assault weapons and Saturday night specials do not fall into those categories.

“There is no place in today’s society for weapons whose primary purpose is the efficient and effective taking of human life or weapons of poor quality,” Parks told the commission in his letter. “Assault weapons were made to kill people, and just like full automatic weapons and silencers before them, they must be removed from our communities.”

He added: “As a nation, we have danced around this issue long enough and it is time to enact simple but effective laws. . . . Our legislators at the federal level simply must step up and do what must be done to protect our families and our children.”