Confederate Sharpshooter

Dear Lord, the nonsense just keeps coming, and from a Confederate State, for goodness sake:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090214/ap_on_fe_st/odd_guns_for_roses_3

The story is short, so I quote it in entirety:

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Police in South Carolina gave away roses on Valentine's Day. All you had to do to get one for your sweetie was turn in a gun.
Hoping to get the weapons off the streets with the "Guns for Roses" program, authorities in two central South Carolina cities set up a program where anyone who turned in a gun received a free rose and a Best Buy gift card.
At a Columbia church, five cars lined up to give away guns before the exchange had even started. About an hour and a half later, police had collected 75 weapons.
"We've got a great turnout so far," Richland County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan said.
A handgun was worth a $100 gift card, while a rifle or shotgun netted a $50 gift certificate. Cowan said one man turned in six handguns, worth $600 in gift cards.
But there was no amnesty for those turning in the guns. The weapons were checked to see if they were stolen, names and addresses were jotted down and ballistics tests would also be done to see if the firearm was used in a crime.
Cowan said the idea was spawned in part by Columbia Police Chief T.P. Carter and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who has made headlines recently for investigating Michael Phelps after a photo surfaced showing the Olympic swimming champion smoking a marijuana pipe. The program was modeled after a California one; similar exchanges have been done in New York and San Francisco.
Cowan said gun donors were young and old, men and woman. Many had a big smile and some said it was a relief to get rid of the weapons.
And did the men even care about the rose?
"Most of them have taken it," Cowan said.

Where to start? Sigh. Well, it made these dolts 'feel good' which of course is the idea behind any liberal nonsense. Did it make anyone safer? Possibly, a firearm in the hands of someone not willing to learn how to handle it safely is indeed a danger and should be avoided. But if that is the case, they should not be looking for a bribe to turn loose of the iron- they should simply call someone who understands firearms to come and pick up the unwanted machinery. If this describes you, you can even call the local police department and they will happily come and take them away, no cost to you. Of course, you'd be stupid to let a valuable family heirloom go that way, but that is your decision. Your local gun shop is a better bet- they will tell you the value of your stuff, and if it is something they can sell, will offer to buy it at a fair price. ( I wonder how many nice valuable guns got turned in here by unlearned relatives?)
And of course the guns will be ballistically tested to see if they were used in a crime. Yeah, right. Don't hold your breath on that one, sparky. Matching up a random gun to a crime under such circumstances make the lotto look like a sure thing. Never mind that stubborn little fact about criminals not showing up for gun turn in programs. Just not happening, for some reason.
Pity the 'gun donors' didn't take the rose offered. They could have held onto it, and used the thorn to stop the next bad guy that shows up.