(insert joke about the number of guns in 'Jersey)

Well, Jersey is fucked now. Expect them to be invaded by the US any day now...

These gun buybacks are stupid. For the most part, they're taking guns not "off the street" but "out of the basement".

Secondly, the reason we have so many guns out there? It's because they're cheap. A cheap gun is what turns Small-time Mugger/Crook McGee into "Armed Felon McGee" - who kills more people than all the school shooters in the world.

Repeating his own horseshit is Goldfucker's last refuge. Hell, one of their own nearly gets turned into paint at the ghetto bar and he still bleats his crap.

@2 You've evidently never heard of the Bayway Refinery or the various bubbling swamps. In other words, New Jersey has powerful defenses and chemical weapons that are fully deployed on a constant basis and only New Jerseyans are naturally immune to their effects. Why, when a strong southwesterly wind blows, half of Brooklyn passes out, even as dilute as it is when their air arrives on our shores.

@3 - I don't think these programs are incredibly effective myself, but if we're taking guns out of basements, then we're effectively curtailing some of the guns that end up on the street through robberies and sticky fingered teenagers and such.

@4 - Haha, Goldfucker! Because, he fucks gold! Hahaha.

Great!

More power to them and I wish them all the very best in their endeavor.

As a SLOG-labeled 'gun nut', I'm publicly stating my support of the program and I sincerely hope it prevents any gun violence in the future.

BTW, I'm not being smarmy. I really wish the best for these sorts of programs. They don't affect my rights and if they do prevent an injury or fatality, then I'm all for it.

The cause for reflection here is that I've been labeled by some SLOGgers as a mentally incompetent danger to all dogma inviolable as deemed by the Left. I say I'm trying to open the eyes of my left-wing, self-proclaimed overlords to the notion that demonizing those who disagree aren't the enemy. I believe in the cause of the left and am here to help.

I'm not being smarmy. Fewer gun homicides advances my cause, not diminishes it.

Makes sense that East Coasters would stand in long lines to trade their freedom for a Government handout.

Have you considered moving Goldy?
You obviously don't belong here, and while you are at it take McGinn's un-groomed, nanny state supporting fat ass with you.

@8 Despite your assertion, a gun doesn't make you free, not in the real world. Who is it would oppress you that you could conquer? The United States? Your own state? Your local police department?

Go ahead next time you're being oppressed by one of those. Pull out your weapon. Let's see how free it makes you.

Open your eyes and heart. Put down your crushing fears and tensions. Come live in the real world with the rest of us. It may suck at times, but lots of us seem to get by. Plus, it's easier to make friends when you don't live a bubble of panic-sweat. And friends are what makes life livable.

@9
A New Yorker talking about freedom, that's ironic. Kind of like a King George supporter trying to speak about democracy, you don't get it and likely never will.

I have spend nearly a decade working in Emergency Services, I just may have a little better grip on what "the real world" is than some pseudo intellectual eager to lick the shit from Bloomberg's shoes.

@9

You know Saddam Hussein actually required his people to own an assault rifle? It's not that hard to convince an insecure man that his freedom is a mere thing you can buy with money and keep in your closet. A lifestyle accessory you can show off to your buddies to prove you're not a nobody. Like an SUV or a big screen TV.

Then as the government consolidates the real power, the gun nut passively acquiesces, secure in the belief that his freedom is right there in his gun case. He takes it out and holds it any time he's unsure. But never really stands up to the government in a way that matters. Why do you think gun owners did nothing about the Patriot Act or SOPA or the suspension of habeas corpus? Saddam knew what he was doing -- he stayed in power for decades, and wasn't brought down by his own heavily armed subjects.

@10

Oh shit wait I get it. You're using that anti-New York thing that the Republicans used to win the last election!

Oh wait...

@10 You know what the problem with you self-ascribed second-amendment libertarians is? You think it's the guns that make you free. Without critical thought - without learning how the media, the political discourse, the very food you consume is manufactured - you're just as much a fucking tool as the one strapped on your hip. Roll out the triumph and ave caesar: he'll solve all our problems, just so long as he lets us keep our spears.

The brave cling to hope, philosophers cling to reason, drowning men cling to straws and the fearful cling to guns.

Wow, for a state that has TOUGH gun laws, NJ sure had a lot of guns turned in...

I sure hope nobody relinquished their ability to defend themselves by giving away their only means of defense. Some people are just sheep though. Thank goodness for the sheepdogs.

@3 I'd support "out of the basement" gun buy backs. I really would.

@15 Having tough gun laws means that people with guns they got without complying with those laws are at risk of prosecution. These amnesty/buy-back programs are an opportunity for people to avoid that risk.

They're also an opportunity for people to get rid of something they don't want without having to worry about who's going to own it next. I mean, seriously, have you seen some of the gang-bangers, separatists, racists, fools, assholes, and paranoiacs who buy guns? Why would you want to help arm one of those?

In the hands of a responsible sportsman, businessman, rural homeowner or security guard, I'm not so concerned about gun ownership. I'd like them to be insured against mishap or misuse, but other than that, I'm okay with it. Everyone else, not so much.